Lymm Eagles 52 – 54 Wilmslow 2nds

Eagles Wings Clipped in Close Run Match

Lymm Eagles continued their up and down season with another hard-fought game against nearby locals Wilmslow 2XV. Matches against Wilmslow have always been very competitive and with the visitors sitting very close to the top of this league, today’s game was always expected to be a close-run thing.

With all three Lymm Senior teams playing on Saturday, the demand for players was never higher. Some of the 2s had to step up to the 1s and the 2s were helped by drafting in a few senior colts to get a taste of playing at a higher level. The Eagles, as ever, responded well to the call from Captain Olly Brown, with Oscar Newton from the junior colts and Finn Henderson from last year’s senior colts offering their services as well as a few of the “Old Guard” including Mike Swetman, Chris Kinsey, and Martin Henderson, all again willing to lace on their boots again to help out. Also returning from injury or other enforced absence were Alan Reddecliff, Rick McEvoy Cronan Creagh, all of whom helped to produce quite a formidable lineup.

In glorious sunny weather, the game kicked off and the Lymm forwards immediately secured the ball and led by the rampaging Craig “The Viking” Capewell, immediately drove straight through the middle of the stunned Wilmslow defence. Craig made it almost to the opposition 22 before he was tackled but managed to offload to the shadowing centre Tom Baker who scampered the last few metres to score under the posts with barely one minute on the clock. He added the conversion points to open the score at (7 – 0).

Right form the restart, the Eagles forwards worked as a well-oiled unit to secure and kept possession of the ball and in a series of rolling mauls managed to move the ball up the pitch. Veteran scrum half, Chris “Lazarus” Kinsey scampered around the back of the pack like a man possessed, controlling the distribution of the ball and performing like a man almost 5 years younger. Eventually in a classic pick-up-and-go move, 2nd row Ben Stroud, picked-up-and-went, charging up the pitch and shaking off any of the attempts by Wilmslow to bring him down to sprint a good 30 metres to score close enough to the posts to make the conversion easier for Tom Baker. With the score now at (14 – 0) after only 6 minutes and with the sun shining in a clear blue sky, the Eagles were looking forward to a good afternoon.

Wilmslow were clearly surprised by the intensity of the Lymm attack but the two scores in quick succession galvanised them into action. Almost immediately from the kick off, their forwards swiftly picked up a mishandled ball from Lymm and released one of their speedy players who dodged and darted his way through the grasping Eagle’s defence for over half the pitch to score a converted try under the posts. (14 – 7). Unfortunately, about two minutes later there was an almost repeat performance when the Wilmslow backs were able to carve untouched through the Lymm lines for another well worked and converted try. (14 – 14) after only 10 minutes play.

The Eagles started to get their act together and use their strong forwards to retain possession and work the ball progressively up the pitch. Olly Brown, George “Ringo” Harrison, and Mike Swetman worked tirelessly together to make valuable yards with crash balls and crunching tackles. Eventually, the ball found its way into the hands of flyhalf Alan Reddecliff who launched one of his trademark, long, cross-field kicks straight into the hands of Chris Fuller, playing out of his usual position of scrum half, who sprinted unopposed down the wing to score a great individual try in the corner.

Unfortunately, the conversion was unsuccessful. (19 – 14). Buoyed up by their third try in only 15 minutes, the Eagles continued to press hard using their big forwards who were having a good afternoon. Only a few minutes later powerful centre Mike Swetman, probably the biggest man on the pitch, received a great pass from loose play, pinned his ears back and stampeded 30 metres through the opposition shrugging off tackles, to score by the posts. Young colt, Oscar Newton, took over the kicking duties and made the conversion look easy (26 – 14) on 20 minutes. 5 minutes later, the Eagles found themselves in a very similar position in mid field and not surprisingly opted to get the ball again to Mike Swetman, already travelling at full tilt, for him to bulldoze his way over the line for another great individual effort. Oscar Newton added the extras for (33 – 14) on 25 minutes.

The flattering scoreline probably gave Lymm an unwarranted degree of over confidence as they seemed to ease off the gas over the next 10 minutes with amazing displays of missed passes, broken tackles fumbled balls, poor communication, and unforced errors. It was probably not surprising therefore, that during this period, Wilmslow were able to run in two converted tries without undue difficulty. This closed the points gap to (33 – 28) as half time approached. Fortunately for Lymm, in the dying seconds of the half, Lymm managed to work the ball slowly up the wing to the Wilmslow 22 where they were able to release the ball to Oscar Newton who barged his way over into the corner for a welcome, but unconverted try. (38 – 28).

Half Time: Lymm Eagles 38 – 28 Wilmslow

Captain Olly used the interval to rest some of the players and bring on replacements. David Coon replaced Gareth Evans as Prop and James Regan, Finlay Henderson and Rick McEvoy took their places in the backs. Olly also had some harsh words for his troops during the interval. Having scored 6 tries in the first half, it seemed that the Eagles normal attack (stick the ball up the jumper and drive hard up the pitch) was going according to plan. However, on the defence side, they had allowed Wilmslow to run in 4 tries almost unopposed. Instructions were to go in hard and low and make every tackle count. The Wilmslow strong and fast backs could not be allowed the space to run riot. It was also recognised that the referee had taken a dim view of some of the comments and advice provided to him by the Lymm players about his decisions and performance. This had resulted in being marched back 10 metres on several occasions and even the reversal of some penalty decisions. This had to stop.

The Eagles clearly took their Captain’s instructions very seriously as Wilmslow were then able to run in two tries with one converted within the first 3 minutes of the second half! (38 – 40). This somewhat stunned the Eagles who realised that they were now behind for the first time in the match. Both sides seemed to settle down and for the rest of the third quarter of the game, the pace of play became a little less frantic. This allowed the Eagles to take a slightly different approach to their game and to move the ball out wider to the centres and wings. This allowed a lurking McEvoy to enter the line at pace and reverse the direction of play and wrong foot the opposition. He covered the 20 or so metres to the line for a well worked try, converted by Oscar Newton (45 – 40).

Unfortunately not long afterwards, a chipped ball from Lymm was collected by a Wilmslow player and fly half Reddecliff thundered in a full speed to make the tackle. Alan contacted the opposing player at hip height, but the impact seriously damaged the upper part of his ear, partially detaching it. He received immediate first aid on the pitch from the Wilmslow physio but was escorted from the pitch to receive full medical attention. Unfortunately, the break in play for the injury seemed to disrupt the flow of the Eagle’s game and their concentration. Accordingly, Wilmslow were able to run in another two converted tries in the next 5 minutes bringing the score to (45 – 54) with less than 5 minutes to play.

At this point the Eagle’s playing discipline took a turn for the worse when several of the referee’s decisions were continually verbally challenged. Unsurprisingly this resulted in the Eagles being marched back 30 metres for continuing the same complaint. Despite this, the eagles dug deep and managed to recover the lost ground and once again, McEvoy found positioned himself to switch the direction of play and crash over in midfield for another good try, converted accurately by Oscar Newton. (52 – 54). With time running out, the Eagles put everything they had into getting back up the pitch for a last-ditch try or even a drop goal which would secure them the win. The Eagles thought they had secured a penalty from a scrum just outside the Wilmslow 22, with the Lymm pack dismantling the Wilmslow scrum. The whistle blew and the Lymm pack looked up expectantly to see the referee had awarded Wilmslow a penalty for hands in the scrum. A bizarre and frankly unbelievable call to decide a game! Despite best efforts, unfortunately, it was not to be, and a final penalty awarded to Wilmslow in overtime was simply booted off the pitch to close out the match. (52 – 54).

Full Tuime: Lymm Eagles 52 – 54 Wilmslow

Not a good result for the Eagles but nonetheless a very competitive game against a strong and well-trained Wilmslow. It is difficult not to feel that the Eagles were the masters of their own downfall as they were well organised and very effective in attack but on this occasion seemed to be unable to mount a strong or even adequate defence. The two packs were very well matched and balanced, but their backs definitely had the upper hand when running with ball in hand. Well done Wilmslow a well-earned win!

As always there are a lot of candidates for Man of the Match this week. Oscar Newton, relatively new to the Eagles deserves special mention for both his scoring and kicking abilities which added 13 points to the score. James Reagan and Cro Creagh complemented Craig all day with some exceptional carrying and ball steals. A special mention also must go to Eagle’s stalwart Alan Reddecliff who received a serious injury to his ear. We all wish him a speedy recovery. However, in the humble opinion of this scribe the MOTM this week should go to the forwards all of whom put an amazing display of grit, effort and tenacity and worked together like a well-oiled machine (apart from those with any replacement parts). If pushed I would say that this week, hooker Craig Capeswell probably edged it with his awesome display of ferocity and power. He scares me in the Club bar after the game so what must he do to the opposition?

Next week the Eagles play Stockport 3XV away unsurprisingly in Stockport. Please make yourselves available. All welcome.

Tries: Tom Baker (1), Ben Stroud (6), Chris Fuller (15), Mike Swetman (19), (25), Oscar Newton (40), Rick McEvoy (57), (77)

Conversions: Tom Baker (1), (6), Oscar Newton (19), (25), (57), (77)

Team: 1) Olly Brown (C) 2) Craig Capewell 3) Gareth Evans 4) George Harrison 5) Ben Stroud 6) Jim France 7) Marc O’Connor 8) Cronan Creagh 9) Chris Kinsey 10) Alan Reddecliff 11) Josh McKean 12) Mike Swetman 13) Tom Baker 14) Chris Fuller 15) Oscar Newton REP 16) James Regan 17) Rick McEvoy 18) David Coon 19)Finn Henderson 20)Martin Henderson

Match Report: Pete & David Coon