Hoylake 1st XV v Ormskirk

Hoylake 16
Ormskirk 9

Hoylake managed to halt their losing run with a scrappy, disjointed performance against a struggling Ormskirk side. Prior to this fixture, Hoylake had slumped to a surprise loss on the road to Orrell and a heavy, but not unexpected defeat to Sale. The latter did give some signs of encouragement, particularly with the gritty performance by the pack.

Unfortunately though, the Hoylake selectors were faced with the unavailabilty of several key players including three second rowers, three back rowers, a stand off, a winger and an inside centre. Luckily, long-term injury, skipper Steve Young, answered the call and started his first came since late November. With no recognised lineout jumpers and two players out of position on the flanks, it was also going to be a tough day at the office.

Excuses aside, Ormskirk gave a good account of themselves but just came up short as Hoylake turned the screw in the last 15 minutes of the match. Tries by Chris Whiteley following a powerful scrum close to the Ormskirk line and from Jake Woods after an audacious offload in the tackle by skipper for the day, Mattt O'Neill, secured the points for the hosts. Neither were converted by Joe Lavin but he did manage two penalties in the first half. Ormskirk's points all came from the boot of their fly half.

Not a classic by any stretch but the main thing was that we came away with the victory on a day when Ormskirk could easily have caused an upset. The Be-Plas sponsored Man of the Match went to Matt O'Neill who ran strongly all day and led from the front.

On Saturday, Hoylake travel to Warrington for another tough encounter with a side fighting for league survival. Historically, Hoylake/Warrington matches have always been close fought affairs. Coach, Gareth John is hoping for some of the injured and unavailable players to be back in contention this week though, which should give the side a lift.