Two second-half tries from Ormskirk skipper Joe Whitfield helped the visitors secure a bonus point 31-13 win in a hard-fought game at Ballafletcher on Saturday to give the Lancashire side a dream start to the season.

Vagas took a very early lead in the Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire encounter with a sweetly struck Cam Findlay penalty in the second minute.

Ten minutes in though Ormskirk hit back.

A string of penalties in Vagas’ territory gave them excellent field position and eventually the defence cracked when Rhys Ward stepped neatly to bisect the Vagas’ try line.

This was followed by almost 20 scoreless minutes as the two teams wrestled for territory.

Vagas won the wrestling match. An attacking five-metre scrum was the trigger. Number eight Gavin Turnbull picked from the base and went down the narrow side.

He was stopped by the defence but prop Joe Louw was following up and he crashed over from close range to leave his side 8-5 ahead at half-time.

Two minutes into the second half Rhys Ward broke clear for the visitors from inside his own half.

He drew the final defender and offloaded to the charging Joe Whitfield who dabbed the ball down underneath the posts.

Hooker Andy Evans added the conversion.

Five minutes later Evans went in for a try of his own.

James Lang and Joe Whitfield opened up Vagas on the left wing.

The defensive line held firm but did concede a penalty for a high tackle.

Ormskirk tapped quickly and Evans dived in from close range and converted his own try. From 8-5 in front Vagas were suddenly 8-19 behind with quite a bit of work to do.

The workload then got much bigger after Ethan Kermode picked up a yellow card midway through the second half.

Almost immediately Ormskirk exploited the numerical advantage.

From inside their own half that man Whitfield found some space and showed pure pace down the left wing for his second.

With eight to play Whitfield opened up Vagas down the left again and while he didn’t quite finish, centre Ollie Roper did and the lead was up to 8-31.

Rob Pease gave Vagas the final say with a consolation score near the end but it was too little too late.

Vagabonds will look to bounce back this when take on former top-flight side Orrell in Wigan.

- The Isle of Man under-18s side lost 44-17 against visitors Crossley Heath School at Ballafletcher on Sunday morning.

Results: Saturday, September 7

Regional 2 North West

Firwood Waterloo 33-0 Douglas

Counties Three ADM Lancashire/Cheshire

Vagabonds 13-31 Ormskirk

DAVE CHRISTIAN