6 Apr 2008 - Littleborough Under 16's 14 - 8 Ormskirk Under 16's

The Final of the Lancashire under 16,s Junior Vase sponsored by Blacksticks  Blue took place in atrocious conditions on Sunday afternoon between Littleborough and Ormskirk at Manchester Rugby Club.

The game kicked off in wintery conditions with Littleborough playing into a strong wind. Littleborough started brightly and soon put Ormskirk under early pressure with some strong running from the two second row forwards Thomas and Rigge. This early pressure began to tell as Ormskirk could only kick possession away with the help of a strong wind at their backs when they did get the ball. This gave the Littleborough backs time to counter attack and they made good yards through full back Coates and wingers Chaplin and Culshaw. One of these brakes resulted in a ruck just inside the Ormskirk 22, Littleborough secured the ball quickly and a brake from scum half Joiner resulted in a try just to the left hand side of the posts. Ross Coates added the conversion against a very strong wind.

From the kick off Littleborough were penalised and this gave Ormskirk the chance to get on the scoreboard which they duly did. Littleborough despite the conditions tried to play open rugby with flankers Ripley and Taylor and centres Campbell and Cushen, combining well to create an excellent chance for Joiner who had the ball knocked out of his hand just before he could ground it over the line. This piece of luck seemed to wake up the opposition and they put together a good passage of play that culminated in an unconverted try by their forwards. Littleborough went on the attack again after this but a couple of dropped balls and wrong options meant at half time they went in 7 – 8 down.

The beginning of the second half produced the best piece of individual skill of the match, Ormskirk kicked off Littleborough failed to deal with it and one of the Ormskirk players ran through to pick up the ball fortunately he could not hold onto the ball which was snapped up by Joiner who then set off from deep inside his own half on a mazy run in which he beat half the opposition to score underneath the posts, Coates again converting.

Littleborough then seemed to think the game was won and Ormskirk sensing this put Littleborough under tremendous pressure. Littleborough had to defend inside their own 22 for 15 minutes, this was a Herculean effort especially from the forwards Barnes Whittaker Irving Rigge  Ripley Thomas Murphy and Taylor all putting their bodies on the line. The turning point of the game when Littleborough turned the ball over at a ruck and Murphy kicked the ball downfield and the chasing players made the tackle deep inside the Ormskirk half . Littleborough got their hands on the ball and scored another try only to have it disallowed for a forward pass. The final score was Littleborough 14 Ormskirk 8.

All the players and coaching staff would like to thank all the parents and supporters who travelled your support was fantastic.