Lymm 20
Fylde 17

Lymm entertained Fylde in the doubleheader league and cup match at Beechwood.

The conditions on pitch 3 were surprisingly good considering the amount of rain over the past week. Lymm made a few changes to the side that competed well last week at Caldy, as they faced a Fylde side that is always in the mix for honours is this very competitive league.

Fylde kicked off and attacked but strong Lymm defence repelled them and it wasn’t long before the Lymm forwards started to dominate play. A good scrum on the halfway led to Jake Ashall rampaging 30 metres deep into the Fylde 22 which led to a penalty which Rhys Jones converted. Lymm continued to press, attempting to shunt Fylde over the line from a number of 5 metre scrums which Fylde did well to prevent a score.

Lymm continued to press and after another infringement Rhys Jones kicked another penalty, 6 -0. Shortly after this he left the field with a broken bone in his hand.
Lymm were finding the line outs a source of good possession with James Yates and especially Will Baldwin winning their own ball and competing well on the Fylde throw. It was from a Fylde throw, 5 metres from the line, that Will Baldwin at the front of the line out stole possession and drove to the line to score an unconverted try, 11 – 0.

Fylde started to come back into the game which Lymm defended well but eventually they were penalised and Fylde got onto the scoreboard, 11 – 3. Then just before half-time, Lymm had a penalty 45 metres out which the mercurial Richard McEvoy placed between the sticks.
Ht 14-3
The second half was more even affair as Fylde gained more possession but both sides defences were on top as the game became a midfield battle. However a good back move by Fylde from deep in their half ended in a try under the posts which was converted, 14 – 10. The game was evenly poised at this stage with Lymm having the edge in the forwards but Fylde backs were always dangerous.

Lymm continued to press and good kicking allowed them good territorial advantage. It was from a midfield break from Jake Ashall that ended with Fylde losing a player to the bin and Lymm opting for a 5 metre scrum. The first scrum ended with a reset as Lymm rushed and got held up over the line. However at the second attempt they showed patience and Ali Sutherland touched down for Richie McEvoy to convert, 21 – 10.

At this point Fylde started to move the ball around and Lymm began to lose their defence shape giving away unnecessary penalties resulting in the Fylde scrum half taking a quick tap penalty 5 metres from the line to score unopposed for a converted try, 21 – 17. 5 minutes to go and Lymm managed to close the game out going to their set piece to retain possession and eventually sealing the game.

This was good performance against a very competitive side. Both defences were excellent but the Lymm forwards won the day. Both Will Baldwin and James Yates had good games at the line out and in the loose. The front row were very solid and behind Richie McEvoy controlled the game well when he went to stand-off, kicking well  making breaks and marshalling the defence.

Next week it’s Rossendale away which will provide another challenging test
Ft 21-17

Squad: