Lymm 35
Fylde 17

This was a testing fixture for Lymm 2s, as Fylde over the years have inflicted some heavy defeats on Lymm. However, after the encouraging performances of the last two weeks we entertained the joint leaders of the league in near perfect conditions at Beechwood.

Lymm kicked off and immediately were on the offensive with forwards dominating possession at scrums and line outs. It soon became obvious that the match was going to be contest between the Lymm forwards and the Fylde backs. At scrum time the Lymm front row dominated the opposition pushing them backwards or disrupting the ball. This lay the platform for the ever youthful Tom Baker to dictate play from stand-off.

It was after constant pressure that Lymm were awarded a penalty, which Josh Davies converted 3-0. Lymm were having most of the possession but the Fylde backs looked dangerous when they had the ball and it was after a turnover in the Fylde 22 that they kicked the ball up field and scored an unconverted try against the run of play, 3-5. Lymm continued to pound away at Fylde but good defence kept them out. However the pressure eventually told as Tom Baker made half a break 10 metres from the line and got his arms free to release the supporting Aaron Rashid who scored a try under the posts for Josh Davies to convert, 10-5. Fylde came back at Lymm taking every opportunity to run the ball and always looked dangerous on the counter attack and broken play but good Lymm scramble defence, led by the ferocious tackling of Jake Ashall in midfield, kept them at bay. Lymm then started going through the phases and after constant pressure, the outstanding Joe Watson forced his way over for a converted try.

Ht 17-5

Coach Peter Millachip emphasised at half time, to continue taking them on in the forwards and playing the game in their half. This would also involve good kicking and chasing.

The second started much as the first half with the Lymm pack on top but from a kick downfield Fylde unleashed their runners and poor tackling allowed Fylde to score an excellent try to make the score 17-10. Lymm came back strongly but Fylde kept them at bay but a good kick to the corner resulted in a five metres scrum. After a number of reset scrums with Fylde being penalised a couple of times they expected another attempt at a pushover but Joe Watson picked up and put Henry Simpson in for an unconverted try in the corner 22-10.

Fylde were not beaten and came back strongly to score an excellent individual try, again through weak tackling to make the score 22-17 with 15 minutes to go. At this stage the game could have either way but the Lymm forwards upped the pace and started to make inroads into the Fylde defence, resulting in two converted penalties by Josh Davies to keep Fylde at arm’s length 28-17.

In the dying minutes, another excellent turnover from 65m, with Rob Makin moving the ball away quickly resulted in a kick downfield with Jake Davies chasing unopposed to score a try converted by his twin brother to seal the victory.

FT 35 – 17

This game showed that if Lymm get the players on the park, they can compete at this level. The front five were excellent in the tight and loose, with Captain Jordan Widdrington leading from the front. Joe Watson in the back row showed what a good player he is with an all-round performance; the tackling of Jake Ashall in the centre proved vital in stopping the danger of the Fylde backs and the returning Tom Baker marshalled his young troops well.

Next week it’s a top of the table clash away against Chester, another tough fixture but Lymm should now go there with a good positive attitude.

Lymm Squad:

J Davies, R Forrest, J Ashall, J Davies, J Reynolds, T Baker, H Simpson, J Watson, A Rashid, J Pitcher, W Baldwin, H Baldwin, N Ashton, R Makin, J Widdrington. Reps; J Porteus, J Dowdeswell, A Hickman.