Ormskirk rolling with Stone win over Clitheroe
THE second round of the Alan Stone Lancashire Bowl Cup competition at Clitheroe, in the Pennine foothills, welcomed Ormskirk 1st XV with wet and windy weather that rapidly worsened as the afternoon proceedings progressed.
Undaunted by what the heavens were throwing at them, both sides produced an entertaining game that saw Ormskirk emerge the victors with a five try haul.
Following a lively start by the home side, Ormskirk were able to gain territorial advantage into the home 22 through the boot of fly half Nat Wildman with two successive penalty kicks to touch.
Well won line out ball released the back line, at the tackle the forwards won quick ball which was taken down the short side for winger Tom Owens to break through the defensive line and open the scoring.
A good conversion by Gareth Little produced maximum points.
Clitheroe got themselves back in the game from the restart with the conversion of a penalty given for Ormskirk being offside at a ruck.
The home side began to use their wind advantage with high kicks to put the visitors’ defence under pressure.
One such kick was not fielded cleanly by the Ormskirk back line and the bouncing ball fell kindly into Clitheroe hands.
A home score looked likely but the Ormskirk scrambling defence, a feature that was to prove decisive in the game, kept their try line secure.
Ormskirk managed to turn the ball over and went on the counter attack through number eight Lee Arrowsmith only for a knock on to stop their flow.
A penalty awarded against Ormskirk for offside brought the home side within one point as it was converted for a 6–7 scoreline.
With their tails up, Clitheroe, not having made any headway through moving the ball down the back line, began to use their big forwards to batter a way up field, but they too found the defensive qualities of Ormskirk were up to the task.
Clitheroe were penalised at a ruck for holding on to the ball and scrum half James Smith took the penalty quickly, releasing winger Tom Owens to go 60 metres for his second try, again converted by Gareth Little, a 6–14 lead.
In the poor conditions, Clitheroe began to make more mistakes than Ormskirk.
Trying to run the ball through the backs resulted in a dropped ball which was hacked through by skipper Mike Knowles.
He gathered the bobbling ball and popped it up to centre Gareth Little, who managing to keep his feet through the muddiest part of the pitch, crossed the line and then converted for a 6-21 half time score.
The worsening weather did not seem to affect Ormskirk as they started the second period in clinical fashion. Clitheroe dropped the ball and were then penalised at the resulting scrum. Ormskirk were much more alert, taking a quick tap again allowed winger Tom Owens to jink his way over for his third and Ormskirk’s fourth try of the game, Gareth Little again converting. Ormskirk were then reduced to 14 men with scrum half James Smith receiving a yellow card and ten minutes in the sin bin. Clitheroe tried to seize this opportunity to get back in the game.
Their for- wards again started to rum- ble but Ormskirk were on the front foot in defence and prevented them from gaining ground, despite being a man down, to see out the sin binning period.
As James Smith returned to the play, Clitheroe were themselves reduced to 14 when their centre was also sin binned.
Ormskirk did take advantage of their numerical superiority as soon after Clitheroe were penalised at a scrum.
Again Ormskirk were thinking quickly, Lee Arrowsmith took a quick tap, crashing through the retreating Clitheroe forwards he went over close to the posts.
The score line increased to 6-35 as Gareth Little duly converted.
The home side were determined to go out on a high and for the last ten minutes of the game they put Ormskirk under the cosh through successive forward’s moves.
Ormskirk’s defence was excellent, snuffing out any chance the Clitheroe forwards seemed to manufacture, helped in part by Clitheroe handling mistakes, to keep their try line intact.
A very satisfying cup result that will increase the confidence of the Ormskirk side as they go back into league duty next week with a fixture at Old Bedians in Manchester.