Congratulations to James Lang on receiving Fitton Estates Man of the Match last weekend, in an 18-10 victory away at Old Bedians RUFC. Making his debut start for the 1st XV, James took the opportunity to display a fine performance at scrum half, resulting in a unanimous decision in the changing room. Ormskirk 1st XV now face Birchfield Rufc at Home this coming Saturday (24/02/2018) in the 2/8 play off games for promotion. 2.15 K.O at Green Lane Meanwhile the 2XV travel away to Oldham. We welcome old and new faces to the club on Saturday to cheer on the Lads in Green and Blue! Photo Credit: Vince Ellis

Congratulations to Arron Ferry, voted players Man of the Match in Ormskirk 1st XV 32-14 victory over previously undefeated Garstang RUFC. This weeks fixtures; Ormskirk 1st XV - Away to Old Bedians RUFC in the 1st of 8 playoff style games. Ormskirk 2nd XV - A journey in league fixture away to Upper Eden

Senior Players - URGENT -

5 tries, 2 red cards, 3 yellow cards and lots of big hits. Classy green army secure playoff place as they outclass fiery Ashton at Green Lane. Match Report by Steve Rouke Ormskirk 1XV 29 - 0 Ashton Under Lynne 1XV Rarely this season have Ormskirk found themselves with two weeks to prepare for a fixture and yet when the chance came around, they failed to take advantage as numbers dwindled in the first week break. However, the second week was planned and executed perfectly as they prepared to play the leagues second from bottom side who had, in their defence, taken wins at some of the leagues better sides. Ormskirk headed into the game knowing that a bonus point win would near enough secure a top four finish and as such a place in the play off league. Bar set high - Captain Michael Knowles demanded four tries and a clean sheet, and couldn’t have asked for a better start. Ormskirk received the ball and built probably their most phases of the game - forward crash ball after forward crash ball found Ashton’s defence straying off side. A quick tap and go from Steve Rouke gave Ormskirk some great field position inside the opposition 22 and as the ball was spread to the backs Michael Knowles hit an incredible line and outpaced the full back to score under the posts. Some say the centre is still having nightmares from Knowlsey’s line speed. Conversion duly taken by resident Scottsman Alex Lambie Jr. 7-0 Kirk. The cry from coach Jay Smith was simple; keep this standard and keep building. Challenge accepted it appeared as great carries from Lee Arrowsmith, the tallest flanker in the world, and back row turned centre for the day Danny Unsworth once again resulted in great territory for Ormskirk. Magician for the day Nat Wildman took full advantage of the field position and sent the opposition to the shop with an incredible dummy (and four of his own team mates too) to score the second of the day. Alex Lambie (Jr if I haven’t mentioned) somehow missed. 12-0 Kirk. Ashton looked down and out 20 minutes into the game and Ormskirk’s forwards were relentless in taking the game to them. If not for handling errors the score would have been much more - but the handling errors gave Ashton their best chances of the day as their scrum really put the pressure on the Kirk front row and resulted in some easy yards for the experienced Ashton pack. That being said, a spill on the Ashton try line resulted in a scrum down for them on their own 5 metre - the opposition though seemed more intent on throwing insults than scrumming and bizarrely lost their own scrum, giving Ormskirk 8 Jack Johnston an easy score out wide. Unsurprisingly the Scotsman missed again leaving Kirk 17-0 up. Receiving the kick again, Ste Rouke, little Dan Hitchlock and tiny Tom Ball made some hard yards. But again handling errors slipped into the game and it was Ashton who capitalised this time. They drove Ormskirk back some 5/6 yards in the scrum and resulted in a penalty. They kicked for the corner and as they brought down to maul, Ormskirk again infringed. 5 meters out the rightfully arrogant Ashton front row cried for a scrum - however this was again to their downfall as the Ashton pack once more seemed to lose their heads and Ormskirk stole the ball. Lines cleared and crisis avoided. Ashton line out on the half way was won and spread to the centres, but big forwards Aaron Ferry and Joey Rivers were in the centre of the park to steal the ball at the breakdown and spread the ball wide. Lovely hands by Gaz Little and Matty White made great yardage for the men in green and gave Ormskirk the ball in the opposition 22. Val Gately, loose head prop turned magical 10 for a brief 10 seconds as a show and go at the side of the ruck saw the big man get to the 5 metre before a silky off load to Ste Rouke who took the easiest try of his life. Very surprisingly this time Alex converted and left Ormskirk 24 points to the good at half time. Ormskirk calmed at the half and outlined the need to keep the foot on the gas, and for a brief period from kick off it appeared as if they would. Again Joey Rivers and Dan Hitch were making hits like men possessed and gave Ormskirk good territory from a lovely turnover by Lee Arrowsmith. However, that would be the big lads last involvement in the game as Ashton seemed to lose their heads again and this time shoved a finger right into Lee’s eye - Lee seemingly thought he’d turned into Mike Tyson for a brief spell and retaliated, some handbags ensued and the Referee rightly sent both men off for their unsportsmanlike behaviour. The rest of the half was a feisty affair. Ashton seemingly had a game plan - play hard, rough them up and make them lose their heads and in all honesty it worked. Ormskirk started to mouth off, get involved in nonsense a team of their standard shouldn’t be and allowed Ashton back into the game. However, defensive work again from Danny Unsworth and skinny Matt Faulkner kept Ashton out. 20 minutes were played in the middle of the pitch, with the backs having little to no involvement in the game and the forwards having to stand strong in defence. Some would assume from a standstill that the game would have been boring but it was quite the opposite - fat lads were hitting fat lads harder than one has seen before and left a lot of blood on the pitch. A real rough, dogged, old school game of rugby for most of the second half and the spectators thoroughly enjoyed it. As the feistiness continued, two yellow cards soon followed. Jay Smith, who had promised to be on his best behaviour took a sly dig and seemingly Ashton had been practicing their martial arts as they pinned Jay by his throat. Jay managed to get the man off him and hold him back but the Referee saw this as retaliation and binned them both - rightly so in hindsight as we are there for Rugby not UFC. Knowlsey rallied the troops and asked for one last push. Ste Rouke came off for Aaron Ferry in what proved to be a good call as big Ferry took some big hits as he carried well and was supported by back rowers Unsworth and Rivers. Good field position and quick ball saw Ashton scrambling in their oppositions territory and that man again Knowlsey hit the ball at pace and went flying to beat 4 men and score under the posts - completely unnecessary to do so as he had a man either side of him to pass to but as the competition for top try scorer continues, so too does the selfishness! Alex Lambie Jnr again missed, but did manage to clock an Ashton player with the ball. Very unsportsmanlike but the Scottishman claimed it was an accident - we’ll never know. With that the whistle was blown and not only had Ormskirk scored the tries required for a bonus point win, they’d also kept a clean sheet. 29-0 to the men in green. A good hard game of rugby for a Saturday and one which will leave a few of the lads sore for a few days. With results elsewhere, the Green Army have secured their play off place as they continue to work towards promotion. The last game of this league takes place next week away at Clitheroe and a win there will see Ormskirk finish in second place and have more favourable home games in the playoffs. The club would like to thank everyone who came down to watch and support on the day. Elsewhere the 2XV were unlucky to concede a last minute try to lose 17-15 at home to Broughton 1XV. Man of the match: Nat Wildman

An action packed day lies ahead for Ormskirk RUFC this Saturday at Green Lane as Michael Knowles leads out his 1XV against Ashton-Under-Lyne 1XV whilst recently appointed 2XV Matty Campbell leads out the Ducks against Broughton 1XV. The 1's have had a mixed season thus far with ups and downs along the way but come into the game having just taken 4 points away at second placed Eagle two weeks ago. With two games left in the league and promotion firmly in sight, the 1's will hope to take a bonus point win at home against the leagues second from bottom side. With that being said, Ashton come into the game in great form having beat Clitheroe last game out and also having beat Eagle at home in recent weeks. Either way, it will be a game not to be missed as the Green Army once again look forward to welcoming you to a day of hard hits and champagne rugby. The 2's, commonly known as the Ormskirk Ducks, come into the game as the sides bottom league. A host of unavailability has plagued the side this year and has left them in many occasions travelling with 12 men. All credit to those who have regularly put a shift in must be given and with a home game this weekend they can be sure to field a strong side. They welcome mid table Broughton 1XV to Green Lane who come off the back of three losses on the bounce and the ducks will look to make it four for them as they travel to their once fortress at Green Lane. The Ducks have taken all their points at home this season and hope to continue that as a win will lift them off bottom of the table for the first time this season. Matty and the rest of the club welcome you all to Green Lane to support the infamous ducks.Both games kick off 2.15pm and the bar open from earlier. The Club welcome all spectators of all ages to the club before, during and after the game and encourage you all to support us as we look to take strides forward both on and off the pitch. Yours, in Rugby, Ormskirk RUFC

Eagle 1st XV 13 - 16 Ormskirk 1st XV - Saturday 13th January 2018 Ormskirk travelled to second placed Eagle on Saturday to continue their league campaign. Currently sitting in fourth place in the South Lancs/Cheshire 3 (North), the Gingerbread Men were keen to make amends for their narrow loss to Eagle, at home, earlier in the season. ‘Kirk started strongly having the lions’ share of possession in the opening stages. Clearly, the men in green were keen to state their intent against the physical Warrington outfit. Ten minutes into the game saw the first scrum with both sides trying to make their domination show. This resulted in the scrum being re-set three times, with both front rows vying for first blood. Ormskirk eventually managed to play the ball and saw outside centre Andy Healey make a clean break down field, off-load to winger Dave Webster, before Eagle made a questionable attempt at an interception, resulting in a knock on. The ensuing penalty was comfortably slotted by scrum half Gareth Little giving Ormskirk a three-point lead. Eagle immediately rallied, and a smart set-piece move in midfield unfortunately came to nought as a knock on, once again spoiled the move. Play continued with Ormskirk, still the dominant side, putting together some well drilled moves, which they weren’t quite able to finish off. Full back Matt White made a searing break down the left wing after a lovely floating pass from Healey. Tackled just short of the line, Eagle cynically killed the ball at the break down, giving scrum half Little the chance to increase Ormskirk’s lead to six. One of the highlights of the game came on the 22 minute mark when fly-half Nat Wildman, hoisted a huge kick into midfield, which was skilfully caught by lock Aaron Ferry who crashed the ball up, for it to be released to the ever-present Andy Healey, who made an outstanding break to score for the first try of the match. The extras were duly added by Little and Ormskirk were 0-13 up and certainly worth their lead. Three minutes later, Eagle responded with a series of big carries into the Ormskirk 22 and despite some stalwart defending by the ‘Kirk back row, a penalty was awarded to the home side which saw their outside centre crash over in the left-hand corner. The conversion missed, the score bolstered the Warrington men’s enthusiasm and they clearly weren’t going to lie down easily. There then followed a game of aerial ping pong, with both full backs fielding a series of kicks in, an attempt to force an error. Ormskirk full back, Matt White, decided that enough was enough and once again, set off downfield, ball in hand. After side stepping several of the opposition, a great cover tackle by Eagle hauled him down and Eagle managed to turn over the ball and break away. After some lovely passing by the Eagle back line, they managed to cross the try line. The try was not given by the referee, however a penalty was. The points added, saw the home side 8-13 down at half-time. Eagle started the second half with a real gusto which caught ‘Kirk on the back foot. Nonetheless, the solid defence continued and Eagle just couldn’t find a way through the green line. Ormskirk were awarded a penalty on the hour mark after the Eagle scrum half kicked the ball back into his own ruck. Ormskirk kicked to touch for the lineout, which, was given as ‘not straight’ and a scrum was awarded to Eagle. The home side were beginning to have the upper hand in the set piece and the visitors were on the wrong end of several penalties at scrum time. A series of handling errors by ‘Kirk saw the ball turned over and Eagle cross the try line under a pile of bodies. The referee, who was surely unsighted, awarded the try nonetheless and after the conversion was missed, the game was all square at 13-13. Both sides saw out the last quarter of the game, desperately trying to find a way through. Both sides putting in some superb defence and solid tackles. The break came for Ormskirk on 72 minutes, when Eagle were penalised for crossing. With the clock running down, scrum half Little one again stepped up to the mark. It was a long kick, just inside the Eagle half. Little kicked the points with, what seemed like relative ease and ‘Kirk were back in front. The remaining minutes of the game saw Eagle throw everything but the kitchen sink at Ormskirk. The Ormskirk defence, however, held tight and the final whistle saw the men in green winners 13-16. This was a sterling performance by the West Lancashire side, probably their best defensive effort all season, in what was a truly bruising and physical encounter. There were undoubtedly some sore bodies on Sunday morning. The result sees Ormskirk remain in 4th place in the league, but with 2nd, 3rd and 4th place all tied on 32 points, there is still everything to play for. With a week off to recover, the 1st XV will be ready to press their case further on Saturday 27th January, when they face bottom side Ashton-Under-Lyne at home. The 2nd XV will also be at home that day when they face Broughton RUFC.

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Everyone is welcome to come and celebrate Christmas with us tomorrow night!

Attention Ormskirk rugby club supporters !! The players have organised a cracking evening doo to celebrate Christmas- Christmas jumpers compulsory DJ Games Seriously good Offers on drinks Fun times and memories guaranteed Food Just £5 a head - payable on the doors Show your face, enjoy the crack ! #greenarmy