Heat soars on the Ormskirk pitch
WITH promotion hopes a faded dream for Ormskirk but very much a realistic prospect for the visiting Ellesmere Port, this match promised much and delivered even more.
With the home side not having played for four weeks due to the Easter break, a free weekend and a postponed match it was always going to be a tough match with club pride to play for and in saying goodbye to a couple of club stalwarts Phil Davis and Neil Habberfield, both playing their final home match before retiring.
On the hottest day of the year, neither side seemed interested in playing at a leisurely pace and the ferocity of the tackling in the first few minutes, was an indication of what was about to come.
Indeed, the ferocity was such that some of the impacts could be clearly heard from 50 and 60 metres away.
Understandably there were many stoppages for injuries throughout both halves.
For the first 20 minutes it was very much honours even, with Ellesmere soaking up a lot of Ormskirk pressure.
Thankfully for the visitors, some of the layoff rustiness was showing, with four golden scoring opportunities lost with only the tryline to cross.
Mistakes, for which the home side were soon to pay a price on two occasions, as further errors in play presented Ellesmere with opportunities to cross the line twice, both tries converted to give a 14-0 scoreline.
Rather than heads going down, Ormskirk rallied with huge efforts from Kieron Williams Denton, Aaron Fellows, Tom Owens and Lee Arrowsmith, the first Ormskirk try following Arrowsmith scattering the visitors defence like a bowling ball hitting skittles before crossing between the posts.
A mistimed conversion attempt left the home side trailing 8-5 as half time approached.
Further forays into the visitors’ half following smart passages of play involving James Smith, Danny Unsworth, the lively Tom Owens and the big centre Neil Habberfield eventually led to a penalty underneath the posts.
The successful kick was the final play of the half, 14-8 to the visitors.
With no real break in the temperatures, the second half progressed with the hard running and big hits shown by both sides throughout the first half and, again, punctuated by many stoppages to cater for the casualties.
The first score of the second half resulted from Ormskirk having successfully weathered a prolonged siege of the line by a very determined Ellesmere side, desperate for further points to help their promotion ambitions.
When the siege was broken, the home side quickly made progress through a number of phases to eventually release club captain Mike Knowles to storm over in the corner for a well worked try.
Another missed conversion attempt left the home side one point adrift at 14-13.
Unfortunately this was to be Ormskirk’s final score as fatigue and lack of match play started to take its toll and unforced errors began to appear presenting Ellesmere with openings for a further couple of converted tries to give a final score of 28-13 in favour of the visitors.
Not the result Ormskirk wanted but what a fine advert for rugby and for sport as the two teams had battled their way through a big hitting match in such a sporting manner which can only be admired.
Although promotion won’t happen this season, plans for next season are already under way.
Also, there is a cup final to play on May 6 at the ground of Wigan RUFC.
A warm welcome will be waiting for anyone who would like to come along and support the club on this special occasion.
Details are available from the club for anyone who might be interested in coming along or interested in trying their hand at rugby.