Match Report Orrell Vs Sefton

Date:	28/11/2009
Kick Off:	14:30
Half Time:	Orrell 7	Sefton 13
Full Time:	Orrell 18	Sefton 16

On a cold, sunny afternoon and on a heavy pitch following a week of rain Orrell faced visitors Sefton in what was to be be a very close encounter.
Sefton attacked from the kick off with their forwards giving a taste of how powerful they were, however strong defence from the Orrell backs O,Keefe, Hewlett and Ainscough prevented any early score.
After weathering the onslaught Orrell produced their own pressure and following good work from the forwards wing John Presho was tackled just short of the try line. There followed a lengthy period of play close to the Sefton line but no score resulted.
The visitors then began their best period of the match with their stand off kicking well for position and the powerful well drilled forwards creating chance after chance. Eventually they did cross the line for the opening score, but Orrell responded instantly when full back Mike Hughes superbly picked up a kick through and fed the ball to his wing Presho who ran 40 yards to score. Hughes added the conversion to give Orrell the lead,but this was to be short lived as Sefton added a penalty and another try before the interval to give them the half time advantage.
Orrell restarted with some good attacks with Jeff Huxley the driving force in the forwards, but they could not convert pressure into points with just an exchange of penalties in the early part of the half.
Hughes added a second penalty to reduce the visitor's lead to 3 points.
Following a quick penalty Brendan O'Keefe delivered a brilliant pass to put centre Mark Hewlett in the clear, he duly rounded the full back to score and give Orrell the lead.
With just 2 points separating the sides and with time running out Sefton saw an attempted drop goal miss the target, and with the last kick of the match they missed a penalty kick which would have snatched the win from Orrell who did deserve their victory on the balance of the match.
Next week Orrell travel to Trentham looking to avenge their defeat of last season, kick off 2.15pm.