New Brighton 39 – Ormskirk 0

Report by Stephen Owen

Team: 15. Andy Signal, 14. Joe Silcock, 13. Brett Williams, 12. Mark Wilson, 11. Vinnie Dutton, 10. Alan Hesketh, 9. Luke Thompson, 1. Joe Cardus, 2. Stuart Gratton, 3. Aaron Jones, 4. Mike Gazzola, 5. Paul Roberts, 6. George Sale, 7. Phil Buckley (Capt), 8. Katilimoni Tuipolutu
Replacements: 16. Mike Smith for Stuart Gratton, 17. Jack Charlesworth for Luke Thompson, 
18. Ned Brookes for Brett Williams 

New Brighton 39 (19) : Tries: Cardus (1) Dutton (1) Signal (1) Tuipolutu (1) Williams (2) Cons: Thompson (3) Pens: Charlesworth (1) 
Ormskirk 0 (0)
On a gloriously sunny Saturday following Armistice Day and preceding Remembrance Sunday, Hartsfield stood for a minute’s silence. Playing some good running rugby New Brighton continued on the winning trail scoring six tries, securing a bonus point for the third week in succession and certainly doing the points difference no harm at all.

Belying their lowly league position Ormskirk attacked from the kick off and just failed to open the scoring within the first thirty seconds after having been awarded a penalty. Scoring opportunities were going to be few and far between for the visitors. From a solid New Brighton lineout the ball found its way to stand off halfAlan Hesketh whose break created a gap for Number 8 Kati who crossed the whitewash for the first of New Brighton’s tries. Up stepped scrum half Luke Thompson to add the extras and New Brighton were on the move. Clearly under pressure even at this early stage the Ormskirk scrum was being turned continually and with the home side forwards camped in the opposition 22 the ball was released to Alan Hesketh who fed centre Brett Williams who crossed for the first of his two tries. Luke Thompson stepped up to slot the conversion. With the game being played within the opposition 22 metre area New Brighton took the opportunity to play with a little more adventure and attempted some planned moves. Once again the instigator was stand off Alan Hesketh who cleverly chipped a kick into space for flying winger Vinnie Dutton to chase. Gathering the ball at pace the winger stumbled and was held but managed to release the ball which was then recycled back to him and the Blues had three tries on the board. From the restart New Brighton went on the attack and the crowd were treated to the sight of Prop forward Joe Cardus selling two dummies before the ball passed through eight pairs of New Brighton hands before the move broke down. As with last week’s game, New Brighton looked in a commanding position at half time. Could the visitors respond? 

Half time score: New Brighton 19 – Ormskirk 0

The home side began the second half where they had left off by driving into the Ormskirk 22 with the ball passing through four pairs of hands before being taken over the line by full back Andy Signal. With a bonus point in the bag Luke Thompson banged over the conversion. Shortly afterwards a misunderstanding in the New Brighton back line saw the ball gathered by Ormskirk full back Armstrong who took off towards the New Brighton 22 only to be halted illegally. To their credit, Ormskirk spurned the opportunity to register three easy points or to kick for touch and chose to run the ball. With the referee deciding that the move had again been halted unfairly Ormskirk displayed great spirit and enterprise by choosing to run the subsequent penalty again. With the entering the final quarter and the result virtually assured New Brighton introduced two of their replacements with Alan Hesketh moving to scrum half. Replacement stand off half Jack Charlesworth fitted in seamlessly and was instrumental in feeding the ball across the line to centre Brett Williams who had the strength to hold off two attempted tacklers to successfully ground the ball for his second try. Shortly after the restart Jack Charlesworth confidently kicked New Brighton further ahead with a confidently struck penalty kick. With the game well and truly won New Brighton then indulged themselves and with virtually the last move of the game Alan Hesketh broke away, fed the charging Kati in support who slipped the ball to runaway train prop Joe Cardus who dotted down one handed in the corner. Before Mr Callan brought proceedings to an end the crowd were brought to their feet by a late surging run from Jack Charlesworth which did not quite achieve the result it deserved. 

Full time score: New Brighton 39 – Ormskirk 0

Great credit should be afforded to an Ormskirk team that refused to capitulate and contributed to a good game of rugby by attempting to run the ball at every opportunity. For New Brighton another solid performance from the forwards and some quick interchanges between Alan Hesketh and Jack Charlesworth which caught the eye late on. Six tries, a bonus point and a clean sheet that clearly reflected the hard work put in by the coaches and squad on the training ground in a performance that moved the team up one league place four points behind the second placed team in the league. 

Next Saturday’s game is away at Warrington, kick off 2.15pm.