Match Report Moore Vs Orrell
| Date: | 26/09/2009 | |
| Kick Off: | 15:00 | |
| Half Time: | Moore 10 | Orrell 14 |
| Full Time: | Moore 16 | Orrell 23 |
Orrell travelled to Moore for their second away fixture of the season where the home team had not been beaten for two years. Playing uphill on a very narrow pitch Orrell were immediately given a taste of Moore’s tactics. Their big strong experienced pack gathered the ball from the kick off and proceeded to rumble down towards the Orrell try line. Continual Moore pressure led to the first of many penalties against Orrell, Moore to converting, 3-0. Orrell quickly replied with a penalty kick from Chris Bennett after Moore were penalised for off side. Orrell began to get into the game and a good steal by Mike Caldwell followed by pressure from the forwards and swift handling from the backs put debutant John Presho over in the corner. With a 8-3 lead Orrell played with more confidence and a long kick and chase up field resulted in Orrell crossing the whitewash only for the referee to blow up for accidental offside. Strong running from Peter Sprung put Moore under pressure which eventually led to a penalty which Chris Bennett converted to extend Orrell’s lead to 11-3. Moore then set up a rolling maul driving deep into Orrell’s 22, two missing tackles allowed Moore to score and convert 11-10. A 50 metre break by Mark Hewlett was stopped just short of the line and Moore gave away a penalty which Chris Bennett put over to take Orrell into half time with a 14-10 lead.
The second half was a scrappy affair with an extremely high penalty count. The first gave Moore the chance to reduce the lead to 14-13. Orrell then took play into the Moore 22 and were given a penalty for offside which Chris Bennett kicked 17-13. Further penalties were exchanged to take the score to 16-20. At this point Moore put huge pressure on the Orrell try line ignoring numerous opportunities to take kickable penalties. Eventually Orrell relieved the pressure with a huge kick and chase down field and a good follow up and tackle from Louis Whitfield resulted in Moore being penalised and Chris Bennett converted to give Orrell a seven point advantage. The last ten minutes were played the Orrell 22 with Moore driving hard for that elusive try. Only gritty defence kept Moore at bay and Orrell were mightily relieved to hear the final whistle.
