Old Redcliffians 26 – 29 Lymm
1st Team Match Report | Saturday October 25 2025
Lymm secure hard-won maximum points on the road
After a week spent in the comfortable surroundings of Crouchley Lane, Lymm were once again back on the bus on Saturday, adding more miles on the now only too familiar tarmac of the M6 and M5, as they travelled to play Old Redcliffians from Brislington, near Bristol. This match with Old Reds, who were founded in 1918 by former pupils of Redcliffe Boys School (c1571) returning from service in World War One, represented yet another venture into uncharted territory for Lymm.
Although Lymm (20 pts – 7th) sat a few places ahead of Old Reds (13 pts – 13th) on the league table, on paper there appeared to be little between the teams. Both had played 5 identical fixtures with Old Reds aggregated score across these fixtures of 125-145 not being too dissimilar to Lymm’s 156-141. Buoyed by 2 bonus point wins in their last 2 home matches, Old Reds were no doubt confident of a home win, especially as almost three-quarters of the matches played in this league to date had resulted in a home victory – maybe a consequence of the distances that teams are required to travel in this the most geographically challenging of the 3 divisions of National League 2.
Lymm’s match day squad showed 5 changes from the previous week with the experienced Rhys Lilly, Oli Higginson, Cal Morris and Dan Hunter returning to the squad, replacing Canada-bound Sam Wadsworth and Max Ure, Dylan Hodkinson and Joe Higgins, whilst Sam Beahan was a late addition following the withdrawal of Ben Thompson. In addition, first starts were handed to Jack Lightbown and Joe Heaton.
Playing up the not-insignificant slope on the pitch and into a stiff breeze, Lymm kicked off. It wasn’t long before the impact that these conditions would have on the match became apparent, as having been awarded an early penalty on their own 22, Old Reds were able to take full advantage to secure an attacking line-out near Lymm’s 22. Old Reds’ carefully constructed rolling maul was well defended by Lymm who, courtesy of a couple of penalties in their favour then took play back up the slope deep into Old Reds’ territory. However, a missed line out (the first of a number for both sides) allowed Old Reds’ to clear the ball into Lymm territory, and in trying to rebuild an attack, Lymm were turned over at the breakdown from which quick hands across the Old Reds’ three-quarter line allowed left wing Harrison Murphy to evade the cover defence and score in the corner. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful. 5-0 after 6 minutes.
7 minutes later, and Lymm were awarded a penalty 25m out, directly in front of the posts, which Jack Reynolds duly converted. 5-3 after 13 minutes. Lymm then enjoyed a period of possession with forwards and backs handing well to take Lymm to within 10m of their opponents try line. A high tackle by Old Reds’ flanker Jalen Curry brought a yellow card, with the resultant penalty giving Lymm an attacking line-out. The subsequent rolling maul resulted in a try for Rob Makin, which Reynolds duly converted. 5-10 after 18 minutes.
The penalty count then swung in favour of the Bristolians and they were soon back in the Lymm 22. A rolling maul was halted; Old Reds’ big forwards battered the Lymm line without success; then the ball was moved to the left where centre Jonathan Cook was able to breach the Cheshire defence for a try. The conversion by Ashley Groves had Old Reds’ noses in front – 12-10 after 26 minutes.
In this topsy-turvy affair, back came Lymm with some possession and field position of their own. A catch-and-drive from an attacking line-out in the Old Reds’ 22 made good yards before the ball was moved through the backs to the left, where a long pass found right wing Nathan Beesley making the extra man to put Paddy Jennings in space. Although only 5m out, the try took some scoring as the cover defence tried in vain to bundle the Lymm winger into touch. While Reynolds’ conversion attempt from wide-out narrowly missed, Lymm had now regained the lead. 12-15 after 32 minutes, which is where it ended up at oranges.
Half Time: Old Redcliffians 12 – 15 Lymm
Lymm would undoubtedly have been very pleased to lead at half-time in the knowledge that the conditions would be much more in their favour in the second half.
The second half started badly for Lymm. The restart was missed; as was the resultant line out, handing Old Reds early possession and a good field position from which to attack. After battering the Lymm defensive line, second row Ethan Doyle found a soft shoulder to force his way over to score under the posts. The simple conversion by Groves extended Old Reds’ lead to 19-15 after 44 minutes.
For the next 10 minutes or so, Lymm struggled to get any periods of sustained possession, and it was Old Reds who looked the most comfortable. However, as the match entered the final quarter, and despite the loss of Ste Pilkington to a bad looking leg injury, that dynamic changed and it was Lymm who began to build momentum. With possession and field position Lymm started to ask questions of the Bristolians’ defence. Good link play between forwards and backs took play into Old Reds’ 22; a long pass out to the right took play close to the line and when it was recycled infield, Sam Wicks was able to force his way over to score his first try for Lymm. Reynolds’ conversion was successful and it was Lymm in front again. 19-22 after 67 minutes.
4 minutes later and Lymm broke the tit-for-tat scoring sequence with their fourth, bonus-point try. The genesis for this important score was a turn-over on halfway by Higginson, which allowed Lymm to move quickly into Old Reds’ territory. A trademark burst by Josh Hadland then broke a number of tackles before offloading to the supporting Tom Manaton who ran in from 5m to score by the posts. Reynolds conversion took the score to 19-29 with less than 10 minutes left.
In the build-up to this try the officials had spotted an offence by the Old Reds’ Number 8, Lex van Keergergen which resulted in him receiving a red card. Now with daylight between them and Old Reds on the scoreboard and a man advantage, surely the match was now in the bag….surely?
Things looked positive when a great take by Higginson from the restart, had the Lymm Number 8 striding into Old Reds’ territory, opening up their defence, but unfortunately his pass to the supporting James Yates failed to go to hand finding the touchline instead. Old Reds secured the line out and worked up the field towards the Lymm line, where they spent the next 7 or 8 minutes applying sustained pressure to the Lymm defence. During this period Lymm prop Lighbown received a yellow card and then, with the clock running down, Old Reds’ centre Cook crossed for a try converted by Groves. 26-29 and, surely, that was that….but no, the referee Mr Connor told the teams that there was 15 seconds left on the clock – so there had to be a restart.
How much more drama could there possibly be in 15 seconds? Plenty it turned out! Alfie Simpson’s restart was caught by the breeze and drifted directly into touch – handing Old Reds a scrum on halfway. With Lymm a prop down, Hunter was summoned from the bench to stand in at his less favoured position of tight-head prop, with Higginson making way. The 7-men packs then steadied themselves – the ball was put into the scrum and the Old Reds pack was sent back 5m by Lymm, disintegrating into a pile of bodies. Pretty much everyone watching had that as a Lymm penalty, other than the one that mattered as Mr Connor reset the scrum. Take two – and the same outcome, and again no penalty award to Lymm, but as Old Reds attempted to play the ball whilst going backwards, Lymm were able to secure possession, and despatch the ball into the adjacent field.
Full Time: Old Redcliffians 26 – 29 Lymm
So, yet another nip and tuck affair, this time with Lymm prevailing – but it has to be said though that watching these matches is not for the fainthearted!
After the match, Head Coach Andy Davies commented:
“An excellent away win against a tough and well drilled Old Reds team. It was a real squad effort, and the boys showed great resilience to regain the lead and then to see the game out.”
“The 2’s also had a fantastic result at home, so it’s great to take two wins into a well-earned rest week for everyone.”
Team: Ben Lilley (27); Rob Makin* (95); Jack Lightbown (4); James Yates* (142); Sam Wicks (7); Rhys Lilly* (78); Josh Hadland* (65); Oli Higginson* (285); Tom Manaton (31); Alfie Simpson* (45); Paddy Jennings* (85); Jack Reynolds (40); Ste Pilkington* (88); Nathan Beesley* (97); Joe Heaton* (3).
Bench: James Pitcher* (97); Dan Hunter (19); Sam Beahan (5); Sean Callander (21); Cal Morris (70).
( ) = number of Lymm First XV League appearances
* Former Lymm Academy/M&J player
Referee: Peter Connor
This brings to an end the toughest block of fixtures of Lymm’s season, with this match being the eighth consecutive Saturday of challenging fixtures – 5 of which have been on the road. Next week there is a well-deserved rest week ahead of the second, much shorter, block 3 of matches – which has an away fixture with Hornets of Weston-Super-Mare sandwiched between home fixtures with Exeter University (8th November) and Taunton Titans (22nd November).
Match Report: Andy Leach
Man of The Match
