Rossendale 21
Lymm 33

Lymm travelled to Rossendale who had a good win last time out at Preston.

It is always a tough place to play, with their sloping pitch but the playing surfaced has been transformed in recent years and was in excellent condition. Lymm made a few changes from last week’s good win against Fylde but still put out a competitive side, albeit with a few players out of position.

Rossendale kicked off playing down the slope and as was the case all afternoon Lymm didn’t deal with kick well and Rossendale were immediately on the attack. However good defence from Lymm repelled them and the pressure was relieved when they earned a penalty at the ruck. Lymm still struggled to exit their half as they failed to find touch or didn’t make many yards with their kicks. The defence held firm and it was after 15 minutes, when Lymm made their first sortie into the Rossendale half, that they put their first passage of play together, resulting in Tom Baker going over for a try, which he converted himself. Then almost immediately Lymm got back up to the Rossendale line and swift passing along the line put Reece Forrest in for a try in the corner. Lymm were not having all their own way as Rossendale used their big forwards to make ground and after a period of pressure they moved the ball along the line and a couple of missed tackles resulted in a converted try. Lymm were making plenty of breaks but were guilty of not being patient or trying the difficult ball but it was that man Tom Baker, who after a good break by Janes Lewis, crossed again for a try he converted.

Ht 7-19

At half time it was emphasised patience retaining possession and doing the basics well. This seemed to fall on deaf ears as Lymm made numerous breaks but failed to convert these into points as the final pass invariably went down or the wrong option was taken. Rossendale were still a fighting force and didn’t give up placing themselves within a score when they scored a try which was converted. It was certainly game on now but Lymm stepped up a gear following the strong runs of Cash Chilvers, who made yards every time he had the ball. The ball was moved around and Alex Hickman hit the line at pace to side step two players to score an excellent try, converted by Tom Baker. When Lymm upped the pace, Rossendale struggled to contain them but again the execution wasn’t accurate enough and a couple of tries went begging. However from a line out quick ball was recycled and a good inside pass from Tom Baker resulted with young prop Harry Ratcliffe showing great pace to burst through and deliver an excellent pass to Tom Baker who completed his hat trick with a converted try. Rossendale never gave in and continued to pound away and scored an excellent try from distance to complete the scoring

Ft 21-33

Before the match if you would have taken a 33-21 victory but Lymm knew that they left a few points on the pitch by not executing as well as they can. However the effort and defence was excellent with everyone putting a shift in. In the forwards the strong runs of Cash Chilvers made ground all afternoon, the work rate of James Lewis who was never far from the ball and Will Baldwin again dominated the line out and made a couple of excellent breaks. In the backs you had to look no further than Tom Baker who was in fine form and looked dangerous on the ball.

Next week it is Preston 2’s at home, which again will provide a tough test as we aim to maintain our second place in the league.

Squad: