No complacency as Ormskirk show their quality to go top of the table
SATURDAY saw Ormskirk First XV welcome visitors Clitheroe First XV for a match which was important to both clubs but for different reasons.
As the end of season approaches for Clitheroe, who are riddled with long term injuries, have struggled to find form and consistency and have been languishing in the lower reaches of the division.
Ormskirk have enjoyed a generally injury free season and are riding high in the league being a single bonus point behind the league leaders and on equal matches played.
With league leaders Wigan not having a match this weekend, this was an ideal opportunity for Ormskirk to climb to pole position.
With such a difference in league placings, this match might have seemed to be a foregone conclusion in terms of outcome and presented the risk of complacency seeping into the home side.
No such thing though as the pre match preparations focussed on the need to treat Clitheroe with respect and be aware of the threats they present with their brand of open running rugby and willingness to play to the final whistle.
The match got off to an ideal start for Ormskirk when, after opening skirmishes between the forwards; a passage of play through many pairs of hands saw the ball quickly played out to the left and finally into the hands of winger Matty White who was able to shrug off the attempted tackles of a scrambling defence to put the ball down between the posts for the opening score, converted by the same player to give a 7-0 scoreline.
Things soon got worse for Clitheroe as the kick off was fielded by the Ormskirk forwards and following ground making bursts from Denton Williams and Rouke the ball found its way to the supporting Knowles who had a clear run to the line only to be brought back for a knock on.
The resulting scrum went to the visitors, who soon lost the ball which was swept across the field and finally into the hands of man of the match Beswick whose uncanny ability to fox a defence with his hip gyrations helped him to sell a classy dummy to the beleaguered defence and give a clear run to the posts.
A successful conversion by White gave a 14-0 scoreline to the home side.
Ormskirk were now on a roll and with the big forwards Arrowsmith, Rouke, Fellows and Hudson, supported by the hard working Ball began to make ground with relative ease and after one such phase of play Knowles was able to get his name on the scoresheet after bursting through the defence to score at the side of the posts for another converted score, giving a 21-0 lead.
Although the points were piling up, no complacency was evident from Ormskirk and signs of surrender from the visitors who were putting in plenty of big hits but were unable to make ground when in possession of the ball.
Possession had been scarce for the visitors and when they did succeed in making good progress into the home side half, a couple of big tackles saw Ormskirk regain the ball and quickly move it out to the left for winger White to outpace his opposite in a race to the corner for a fine try.
Five minutes later, after a period of staunch defending of their own try line, the home side were able to break out of the 20 meter zone and from there rapid passages of play found the ball with Arrowsmith whose pace was left the defence trailing before Knowles was able to claim his second try, waltzing in unopposed between the posts to give an easy conversion kick to White.
Following the kick off it was then the turn of Ormskirk to put in a prolonged period of defending as a determined Clitheroe side pounded away with phase after phase of play no more than 10 meters from the home line.
A big feature of the Ormskirk side over the course of the season has been a willingness and determination to work for each other and to defend the line.
This quality was again evident as big hits forced the visitors to concede ground before eventually losing the ball.
Play quickly travelled down the right hand side for winger James Lang to leave his opposite in his wake to touch down close to the corner flag for the sixth try to Ormskirk with fifteen minutes of the half remaining.
The greater share of the remainder of the half went to Clitheroe who refused to give it up and their efforts were rewarded with a fine try out wide after periods of hammering the home defence before a smart passage of play across the field gave the outside player the chance to skip over for an unconverted try.
The score provoked Ormskirk into a rapid response, quickly retrieving the ball from the kick off and following ground gaining runs from Arrowsmith, Fellows, Denton Williams and Beswick, Rouke they were able to crash through a desperate final line of defence for a fine touchdown.
The second half might well have developed into a one sided rout but Clitheroe again showed tremendous character and a never say die attitude, making Ormskirk work hard for every bit of ground gained as thundering tackles continued and the visitors again made good ground through hard forwards surges and open backs play.
However, as during the first half, they continually came up against a determined defensive effort as the Ormskirk forwards met them head on, Tom Ball putting in some very good work to prevent them visitors making progress.
With the efforts from the visitors came the inevitable fatigue from which Ormskirk were able to null the persistent attacks and break out of their own half to score a number of tries in quick succession with the first going to winger David Webster who was able to outpace his pursuers and shrug off a final effort to halt his progress before touching down in the corner.
A fine quality try which was created by the handling qualities and nouse of backs Jake Kinrade and Ciaran Beswick who combined to open up the left side for Webster to finish off in style.
Further scores followed from Jake Hodson to notch up a hat trick, Mike Knowles to complete his own hat trick, with Harry Hewitt and Callum Dowdall scoring their opening first team tries.
Sandwiched between the scores was another try for Clitheroe who also had the honour of closing the scoring with a well worked try in the last few seconds of a very entertaining and hard fought and sporting match which was a credit to the players, the clubs and the game of rugby union.
So, Ormskirk now sit at the top of the league with just two away fixtures to play, having played one match less than the second placed team and one more than the third placed.
They also have a home cup semifinal to play and another cup match in which we are still involved.