Lymm Eagles 10 – 34 Macclesfield 3rds

Eagles Struggle Against Reinforced Macclesfield

With two hard fought, back-to-back wins under their belts, Lymm Eagles were at home to face Macclesfield, one of the few teams in this league who can field 3 Senior Rugby teams. The first scheduled fixture for these two teams back in November was awarded as a home walkover for Lymm as Macclesfield were unable to field a competitive team. Accordingly, Macclesfield were still obliged to play this return leg of the fixture at Crouchley Lane. Previous Eagles fixtures against Macclesfield had always been very competitive and with honours more or less even over the past few years.

Although a few of the Eagles regular backs including Alan Reddecliff, Liam Sullivan and Rick McEvoy were unavailable this week Captain Olly Brown was still able to raise an excellent looking team and even with the luxury of 5 good replacements, although most of them of the forward variety. The forwards retained their usual team of regulars, with David Coon, Olly Brown and Craig Capewell in the front row and George “Ringo” Harrison and Ben Stroud in the engine room. Jim “Badger” France, big Mike Clarke and newcomer Frazer Kinvig made an impressive and experienced back row. Olly had to rearrange the three-quarter line to fill a few gaps. Regular scrum half Chris Fuller was moved out to centre with his usual position being filled by the highly experienced and evergreen Martin “Henders” Henderson. Eagles’ new boy Sam “Knutty” Cook returned to fly half with Keiran Williams moving out from flanker to centre. On paper the team looked formidable with an excellent combination of experience, ability and, in some cases, youthful good looks.

However, during the on-pitch warm up, it was evident that, although a number of Macclesfield players were easily recognised from earlier encounters, it appeared that they had been able to mount a very successful recruitment campaign for their 3XV and acquire the services of several faster, stronger and younger players. Either that or they had been able to take advantage of the fact that the Macclesfield 2XV did not have a game on Saturday and might be looking for something to do!

The weather in recent days had been kind, and the pitch was in good condition, relatively dry and soft. The referee was a familiar face and explained that he was being assessed during the match. He also brought with him a young assistance referee to run touch and who would also be assessed.

The game kicked off as the first 3.00pm start of the season and within the first few minutes of the game it became clear that the Eagles definitely had a hard game ahead of them. The Macc forwards comprised a group of very big units who certainly new what they were doing. The Lymm pack were taken aback at the ferocity of the Macc forward drive and realised they were not going to be in their usual dominant position, with the pack working overtime in the scrum to maintain parity. Unfortunately, within the first few minutes of the game, centre Keiran Williams, received a very bad knock to his ankle which necessitated his removal from the pitch for the rest of the game. Not a great way to celebrate your birthday and the treatment would probably require the consumption of a decent amount of oral anaesthetic after the game.

Lymm regrouped and managed to get the game back on an even footing and the game alternated between the 22 metre lines with both teams producing good breaks which were efficiently countered by good tackling from both sides. With 25 minutes played, Lymm were pressing hard and seemingly had the edge as they moved up the pitch. Suddenly, completely against the run of play, Macc gained possession, and with short accurate passes moved the ball out wide and avoided all Lymm’s attempted tackles to score an unconverted try in the corner (0 – 5).

A few minutes after the restart, the Macc forwards rumbled forward with the ball and released it to one of their fast runners who sprinted to the line and dived acrobatically under the posts. Fortunately for the Eagles, the referee judged that the pass had been forward and the try was denied. Lymm took the opportunity of the break in play to give Mike Clarke a breather and bring Jez Ure on as replacement. Despite the Eagle’s best efforts, they struggled to hold the Macclesfield assault at bay. Credit must be given to the tackling by all the Lymm players, but Macc seemed able to retain the ball in all phases of play. As the game trundled towards half time Macc ran in two good tries under the posts on at 33 and 39 minutes. The well taken conversions brought the score to (0 – 19) at the half time whistle.

Half Time: Lymm Eagles 0 – 19 Macclesfield

Captain Olly used the half time break to bring on his remaining replacements and rest some of the hardworking weary players. Young Patrick Cummings was moved to full back with Louis Hind in close support on the wing. Frazer Kinvig who had had a good half, but who suffered a heavy knock to the head in a collision was removed from the game as a sensible precaution. Hardworking Marc O’Connor returned to the pitch to bring his fresh legs an opportunity to impress. Facing an unanswered lead of 19 points Olly used all his techniques of persuasion, bribery and threats with menace to raise the morale of his team. This appeared to have the desired effect as within 2 minutes of the restart, after a brief spell camped in the Macc 22, the almost unstoppable Craig “Viking” Capewell, collected a spilled ball about 10 metres out and drove straight for the Macc line for a good individual score on 42 minutes. Unfortunately, the angle and distance defeated Chris Fuller’s conversion attempt. (5 – 19).

The Lymm score clearly stung the opposition who felt that they had control over the game. With only 45 minutes played, the Macc scrum half, running cross field with the ball, cleverly kicked it high over the Eagles defensive line and then outpaced everyone to collect his bouncing kick and score with some ease. The conversion was missed but the score was now (5 – 24).

Not downhearted (well not very much), about 5 minutes later, a spell of excellent passing through many hands in the Lymm backs was finally rewarded when the ball reached the outstretched arms of flying winger Ash Caffrey who skirted down the touchline to storm over in the corner for a good, unconverted try (10 – 24). Once again, the Lymm score seemed to sting the Macc lads into serious activity. In an almost repeat of their last try, a reversal of direction wrong footed Lymm and a very fast diagonal sprint across the pitch found a gap in the line allowing Macc to score another unconverted try in the corner (10 – 29) with 54 minutes played.

As the game entered the last quarter, the relentless pressure and somewhat overly aggressive attitude of some of the Macc players resulted in frayed tempers and a few handbags thrown on both sides. This necessitated a stiff talk from the referee to all the players and Mike Clarke was the unfortunate recipient of a yellow card and a 10-minute enforced rest. It should be noted that there were a number of potential candidates for this award on both sides, and Mike was unlucky to win the raffle.

The last 10 minutes of the game, did not significantly improve in attitude with more pushing and shoving and playground antics. There was still time for Macc to run in a final unconverted try in the last few minutes (10 – 29). The award of this try was disappointing as at the time, several Lymm players, were helping to staunch the flow of blood from the head of winger Ash Caffrey, the incident and treatment of which seemed to have escaped the notice of the referee. The final whistle followed.

Full Time: Lymm Eagles 10 – 34 Macclesfield

Not a great match or a good result for the Eagles but undoubtedly a good win for Macclesfield who are currently hovering close to the bottom of the league. The Eagles were a little taken aback by the exceptionally strong performance of the Macc forwards and the equally impressive display of running and handling by their backs. However, there can be no complaints, and the Eagles always pride themselves on their willingness to play whatever team is put before them and accept the outcome with good grace and sportsmanship. Well done Macclesfield and good luck for the rest of the season. For the Lymm players, it must be hoped that some of the backs start making themselves available for the remaining 5 games of the season.

Once again, the Eagles were graced with a good turn out of supporters (well any more than just me is a bonus) including 3 members of the Halford family (Tony, Adam and Richard) and Frazier Kinvig’s son Freddie from Lymm U11 team and a dog provided by the opposition. It was also good to welcome back lock forward George Harrison’s dad Chris, who sportingly donned his Lymm Kit and boots and took to the pitch to allow stalwart prop David Coon, a well-earned break at the end of the game after playing for 75 minutes. In the full spirit of inclusivity, I should also thank the small group of ladies, who come along every week to keep an eye on their spouses, partners, boyfriends etc. They certainly add a touch of glamour to the proceedings and their perfumes and scents improve the aroma in the Lymm dugout no end.

As to the Man of the Match this week, despite the threats I received in the bar afterwards, Alan Reddecliff is definitely not eligible as he did not play this week. Although the contribution from all the players in a difficult and challenging game is clearly recognised, my own choice for MOTM this week would be veteran player Martin Henderson. He played a great game at scrum half, switching direction, wrong footing the opposition, selling dummies to anyone who would buy them and generally making himself very unpopular with the opposition, all behind a pack that was under great pressure throughout. It is rumoured that he is going to open a kennel specifically for old dogs where he intends to run a business teaching them new tricks. Well done Martin, keep it going.

Next week the Eagles play Manchester Medics in a rearranged fixture away at Heaton Moors ground in Stockport. Please make yourselves available, let’s get back into winning ways as soon as possible. As ever, all welcome.

Tries: Craig Capewell (42), Ash Caffrey (50)

Team: 1) Olly Brown (C) 2) Craig Capewell 3) David Coon 4) George Harrison 5) Ben Stroud 6) Frazer Kinvig 7) Jim France 8) Mike Clarke 9) Martin Henderson 10) Sam Cook 11) Ash Caffrey 12) Kieran Williams 13) Chris Fuller 14) Patrick Cummings 15) Stu Norman REP 16) Gareth Evans 17) Marc O’Connor 18) Jez Ure 19) Louis Hind

Match Report: Pete & David Coon