VAGABONDS defeated Ormskirk in their first home game of the 2012-13 season and went to the top of Women’s NC North Division One in the process.
The Ballafletcher side were out of the blocks quickest and were ahead in the very first minute when Anne-Marie Rivers went over for her maiden try.
Ormskirk, especially in the forwards, were no pushovers and they were soon back in the game. The pack generated some clean ball and right wing Charlotte Pierce danced through some slack tackling on her way to the try line. Charlotte Trail converted to give the visitors a 5-7 lead.
Vagas then upped their game. Sorrelle Williams was over in the 20th minute but unable to ground the ball. After a lengthy injury stoppage, play resumed where it had left off and the home side finally got the breakthrough they were looking for when Lauren Ellison crashed in under the posts. Cath Moore converted and they were in front 12-7.
As half-time neared, Ormskirk earned themselves a scrum deep inside their own 22. The ball squirted out the side and Vagas scrum-half Rachel Beckley seized the opportunity. She gathered in the loose ball and drove over the line from five metres out. Moore added the conversion and Vagas turned around 19-7 in front.
Ormskirk threatened a revival after a little purple patch at the beginning of the second half. They pinned Vagas back for 10 minutes and finally got their reward when Emma Fletcher finished off an overlap wide on the right to reduce Vagabonds’ lead to 19-12.
From then on Vagas began to dominate but the gritty Ormskirk defence left the scorers untroubled until the last 10 minutes. Substitute Steph Hall finally cracked the defence in the 34th minute of the half. Her midfield break created space on the left and some slick handling put Ellison clear for her second and the decisive score.
With Moore’s conversion Vagas had the game in the bag at 26-12.
They then iced the cake with the very last play of the game. Ormskirk made a hash of a clearance kick and Tara Jackson scooped up the ball and galloped in from halfway to finish the game off in style.