Armstrong in the sin-bin as Plate hopes are dashed

Apr 16 2009 by Our Correspondent, Ormskirk Advertiser

Ormskirk9

Hutton26

ORMSKIRK crashed out of the Lancashire Plate at the quarter-final stage after a 26-9 defeat to Hutton at Green Lane on Tuesday.

John Armstrong kicked all of Ormskirk’s points although the star fly-half suffered a night of mixed fortunes after being sin-binned in the second half.

Hutton delivered an assured performance with two tries in each half killing off the home side’s cup aspirations.

Ormskirk had started the game positively and took an early lead after Hutton’s forwards infringed in front of their own posts, leaving Armstrong the opportunity to make it 3-0 with a perfectly-executed penalty.

Luke Parker was inches away from extending Ormskirk’s lead minutes later but the wing was held up over the try line.

With full-back Gareth Little linking up well with Ray Doolan and John Curley, it seemed only a matter of time before Kirk's pacy back-line would give them the advantage.

However, Parker then failed to collect a clearing kick from Hutton’s fly-half Andrew Tobutt and the visitors broke away for the first try of the game.

Armstrong reduced the lead to one point with another penalty goal but more Ormskirk mistakes handed Tobutt a breakaway try to give his side a 12-6 lead at the interval.

In the second half, the match became an open affair with both sides attacking out wide at every opportunity.

Unfortunately for the Green Lane men it was Hutton’s Craig Cameron who capitalised on the spaces created by Ormskirk's expansive play.

The outside centre capped a superb performance by claiming two tries in the final 20 minutes as Hutton's dominance at the scrum meant that Kirk could not break through for the score they needed to stay in the game.

Andy Wroe and Ben Davis both went close in the final stages although Kirk's day went from bad to worse as Kirk lost Armstrong for 10 minutes for a trip on Hutton's scrum-half, Phil Caslake.

Andy Healey stepped in at fly-half but Hutton's defence stood firm right until the final whistle.

On Saturday Ormskirk face Bowden at Green Lane in their final league game of the season.