Lymm 90 – 12 Burnage
1st Team Match Report | Saturday October 15 2022
Lymm dominant in 14 try romp
Lymm entertained near neighbours Burnage on Saturday, following a rest week in the league programme. The rest had not been long enough for several bruised bodies, following the defeat to Blackburn, captain James Yates, prop Matty Hands and back row forward Rhys Lilley didn’t make the line up resulting in a start for Kieran O’Callaghan at prop, a shuffle in the back row and most notably a first league start for young second row Sam Dickenson, the latest former Lymm Colt to make a first team breakthrough. A final last-minute change was also required at scrum-half with Cormac Nolan moving to 9 and Paddy Jennings being recalled from second team duties to start on the wing. The final notable name on the squad sheet saw the return of James Kimber after 2-years out of the game with a shoulder injury.
As has become the norm, kick-off was greeted with rainfall as Lymm started proceedings with the benefit of a light breeze. It wasn’t long until Jennings was in the thick of the action making good yards before play was halted for a scrum. The Lymm scrum started well and drove the Burnage pack back, which was to continue throughout the game. With the ensuing ball secured Jennings was at it again, this time managing to finish off the move and go over under the posts. Cormac Nolan converted to make the score 7-0 after 5 minutes.
Paddy Jennings crosses for Lymm’s 1st try
Lymm dominating and sensing an easier afternoon than last time out, began to force things and fire passes, with a slippy ball this made for some scrappy rugby but it wasn’t long until things clicked and a great interchange between Nolan from scrum-half and Nathan Beesely saw Steve Pilkington crash over for the next score, with Nolan adding the extras, ten-minutes in the score was 14-0.
2nd try scorer – Steve Pilkington on the attack
Sensing cruise control, Lymm took their eye of the ball and a quick tap penalty saw Burnage go over to make it 14-5. This was however just a very temporary blip and Nolan hit back immediately ghosting through an invisible defence to score under the posts, adding his own conversion to take it 21-5.
Cormac Nolan scoring Lymm’s 3rd Try
The flow of the game was interrupted on 25 minutes following what looked at first to be a nasty injury to Burnage second row Ayrton Campbell, all at Lymm wish him well, and it certainly seemed as though he was better than first feared as he was taken by ambulance for checks.
Normal service was quickly resumed in the remaining 15 minutes of the half with Beesley scoring with a trademark kick chase and Oli Higginson forcing his way over from the back of the scrum. Nolan converted one leaving the half-time score 33-5 and the bonus point secured.
Oli Higginson Crosses for Lymm’s 5th try
Half-time 33-5
The second half saw the return of James Kimber to the centre to renew his Colts partnership with Steve Pilkington. It didn’t take long for Kimber to make his presence felt, with Joe Watson cutting a great inside line, the ball was taken on by Kimber who released Beesley to sprint over. The conversion took the score to 40-5. With 10-minutes of the second half gone Beesely completed his hat-trick, this time getting on the end of a grubber kick from Tom Shard, Nolan again did the honours with the boot and at 47-5 and half an hour still to play any Burnage resistance was now gone.
The Lymm pack were dominant throughout the game
Lymm were now going through the gears and showing their full attacking repertoire, with backs and forwards combining with pace and power to score some great tries with what seemed every attack.
Further tries were added by Alfie Simpson, Ed Morris, Ali Sutherland (2), a second for Nolan and a fourth for Beesley. Kimber who had been at the heart of all that was good in the second-half, also got himself on the score sheet, a fitting reward for what had been a superb second half cameo from the returnee.
Flanker Ed Morris scores Lymm’s 12th try
The final score 90-12 reflected the extent of Lymm’s dominance in what was a very one-sided game. Clearly there will be a lot tougher assignments for Lymm, and these start next week with an away trip to Kendal, always a difficult place to play as winter approaches.
‘It was a really clinical performance’. Commented DoR Adam Fletcher. ‘I was really happy with how we kept our concentration in the 2nd half, it would have been easy to take our foot of the gas but we kept to our processes well.
‘Excellent to see James Kimber back playing, it is a huge positive to the back line’.
Team: 1. Gavin Woods, 2. James Pitcher*, 3. Kieran O’Callaghan*, 4. Joe Murphy*, 5. Sam Dickenson*, 6. Joe Watson, 7. Ali Sutherland, 8. Oli Higginson*, 9. Cormac Nolan*, 10. Tom Shard*, 11. Paddy Jennings*, 12. Scott Redfern, 13. Steve Pilkington*, 14. Nathan Beesley (C), 15. Alfie Simpson*, 16. Matty Connolly*, 17. Ed Morris, 18. James Kimber*.
*Product of Lymm M&Js/Colts Academy
Referee: Mr Andrew Shaw – Cumbria and RFU North Group
Match Report: Neil Allen