Ormskirk under-15s are beaten by Tarleton

Jan 15 2009 by Our Correspondent, Ormskirk Advertiser

Ormskirk Under-15s5

Tarleton20

TARLETON travelled to Ormskirk for their first match after the Christmas break, which is always a keenly contested derby.

The match remained equally contested for most of the first-half, until just before half-time.

Scrum-half Jordan Dawson produced a strong break down the right wing, putting Ormskirk on the back foot, and from the following ruck the ball passed through several pairs of hands, before Jordan Haworth straightened up the attack.

With a determined run he scored the first try of the match in the left corner.

All through the first half the Tarleton forwards competed strongly in the scrums and rucks, turning the ball over several times, mainly due to strong consistent forward play from Tom Waring, Bradley Jones, and Matt Bretherton, with Tom Cowin leading the pack well.

The second half started well for Tarleton with strong forward play being lead by Tom Johnson, allowing the ball to be passed out wide to the right, where Sei Kato scored in the corner.

Shortly after this score the Tarleton forwards retained the ball well, and with backs being organised by Jordan Dawson, enabled the ball to be moved out wide, where Sei scored his second try in the left corner.

Tarleton inside centre Matt Pye planned attacks from the middle of the field, making several breaks, and apart from the odd dropped ball and stray pass, could have lead to even more tries for Tarleton.

So with harsh words from Tarleton’s captain, persistence lead to Tarleton’s fourth try being scored down the left by Stephen Winder, running in unopposed from 20m.

During the second half several changes were made to the Tarleton line-up, which did not impact on the team’s performance, demonstrating that the 23-man squad is well balanced with strength in depth.

With a good performance from debutant Joe Castell, the team is growing in confidence with each match.

Bevan Taylor, Liam Dodd and Hugo Faria put in strong performances, along with Alex Rigby, Stuart Mayer and Tom Walmsley all playing with confidence.

Aiden Hipwell, Tom Wignall and Rob Unwin all came off the bench to play there part in an exciting derby.

Tarleton’s only disappointment was they were unable to keep a clean sheet, as Ormskirk never gave-up the battle, playing with their heads-up throughout the match, resulting in a deserved late try by the home side.

Since Lisa Smethurst (dietician), and Jason Aspinall (sports psychologist) joined the back-room staff at Tarleton, improvements can be seen from all players, especially now that they are eating, and thinking properly.