Lymm 118 - 3 Kirkby Lonsdale

Ton Up for Lymm

Lymm registered one hundred points for the first time in the clubs first team history, but it was no cause for great celebration as this one-side affair was met with a slightly hollow feeling by the Beechwood faithful.

Kirkby Lonsdale travelled down the M6 firmly rooted to the bottom of the table. That the young Kirkby team made the trip unsupported by any of the club’s hierarchy added to the sense of woe and sympathy for the visitors. With Lymm flying high, the prospect of a routine victory enabled Lymm to rest Oli Higginson, Cormac Nolan. Toby Phillips slotted in at number 9 with Nonso Agina coming in to the second row for the still injured skipper James Yates. Ben Thompson made his first team debut at prop after some impressive run-outs for the second team.

In the pre-match talk to the Beechwood diners head coach Adam Fletcher emphasized the need for Lymm to remain professional and structured in their approach to the game, citing the way the Aussie Rugby League team were ruthlessly going about their business in the current RL World Cup.

Other than the odd bout of dropsy, Lymm were largely true to the coaches words throughout the afternoon. Opening the scoring after 5-minutes through debutant Ben Thompson, the next 40 minutes saw a procession of tries, with a further 9 touchdowns following in regular order as Kirkby Lonsdale were unable to cope with the power and pace of Lymm. Joe Murphy and Rhys Lilly carried impressively in the forwards, supported well by Nonso Agina. In the backs Toby Phillips kept things ticking along nicely at scrum-half, whilst the pace of Nathan Beesley proved far too hot to handle.

With Tom Shard taking over the kicking duties in the absence of Cormac Nolan and proving equally deadly from the tee, half-time was reached with the score 66-3.

The mismatch carried on into the second half, with Lymm registering a further 8-tries. Matty Hand was prominent carrying like a wrecking ball and Vice Captain, Nathan Beesley took his try tally to 4 for the afternoon and was immediately removed from the fray to spare any further damage. It was rather fitting that club stalwart Gavin Woods crossed for the score which brought up the ton. It was at this point that Lymm discovered the new RFU funded electronic scoreboard did not run to 3 digits, maybe a sign that rugby isn’t supposed to be like this…………. The final score was registered at 118-3 or 18-3 according to the scoreboard!

All in all it was a rather surreal and unsatisfactory day, am sure the return trip to Kirkby Lonsdale, which is always looked forward to by Lymm members will be a very different affair. In the short-term, normal service will be very much resumed next week as Lymm travel to Wirral for what is always a hard fought and close encounter.

‘We knew before the game that the score would be very one sided’, commented DoR Adam Fletcher. ‘Kirkby have struggled since the Covid 19 pandemic. They were the last team we played before rugby stopped in 2020, they beat us comfortably that day.

‘We handed starting league debuts to Nonso Agina and Ben Thompson, whilst Toby Philips made his 1st league start at scrum half. All three had really good games.

‘We asked the boys to work on a few aspects of the game we have been struggling with recently, one of them being ball retention. We managed to do this brilliantly today.

‘Kirkby kept positive throughout and kept defending for the 80 minutes. They are a club in transition, I wish them all the best for the remainder of the season’.

Try scorers; Nathan Beesley (4), Joe Murphy (2), Ed Morris (2), Paddy Jennings (2), Toby Phillips (2), Ben Thompson, James Kimber, Ali Sutherland, Tom Shard, Gavin Woods, Rhys Lilly.

Team: 1) Gavin Woods, 2) James Pitcher* (37), 3) Ben Thompson, 4) Joe Murphy* 5) Nonso Agina*, 6) Ali Sutherland, 7) Rhys Lilly*, 8) Joe Watson, 9) Toby Phillips*, 10) Tom Shard*, 11) Paddy Jennings*, 12) James Kimber*, 13) Ste Pilkington*, 13) Nathan Beesley*, 15) Alfie Simpson*, 16) Matty Hand*, 17) Ed Morris, 18) Scott Redfern.

*Product of Lymm M&Js/Colts Academy

Referee: Mr Ricky Hands – RFU North Group
Match Report: Neil Allen
Photos: Stuart Watson

There were no 2^nd or 3^rd XV games