Wirral 3rds 5 – 24 Lymm Eagles

With the Lymm Eagles suffering a number of injuries to key players as well as a number of unavailability’s, it was a cobbled together selection of players that made the trip west to Wirral RUFC.

With wet conditions making intricate play difficult it was obvious that the match was going to be a battle of attrition between the two forward packs. Wirral started fast, but the Lymm defensive line held strong led all day by a back row of Kieran Williams, new player John Pryor and returning veteran Craig Capewell. Lymm’s dominance in defence led to the home team continually making mistakes which allowed Lymm territory and possession of the ball. Rhys Jones having returned this season to Lymm Rugby after a lengthy layoff due to injury was in good form marshalling the attack with a series of well placed tactical kicks and also a deft touch in releasing the outside backs when required. It was the aforementioned Jones that opened the scoring with a penalty kick from just outside the opposition 22. 0-3 to Lymm after 10 mins, with the instructions being ‘lets build a score’.

As the Lymm pack became more dominate, the opposition started to get on the wrong side of the referees whistle and saw themselves marching back 10 meters due to indiscipline at the break down.  This opportunity was again given to Jones from the kicking tee and he dually obliged 0-6.

As the first half was nearing its end, Lymm took the opportunity to cross the white wash for the first time. After a series of phases, a pick and go from the base of a ruck, captain Brown was stopped just short of the Wirral line. Quick ball from the resulting ruck meant fly half Jones was able to release full back Larkin who, with a nice show and go scored under the posts. After graduating from the Lymm youth system last season Larkin is growing into senior rugby and offers a continued scoring threat. With Jones securing the conversion Lymm entered the halftime break with a 0-13 lead.

After a half time chat that consisted of generally ‘more of the same’, Lymm kicked off with the weather seemingly changing for the better. Injuries to the opposition front row generated by the pressure from front row debutant Quin Peers, meant that the scums went to uncontested. This halted Lymm’s dominance and with a driving maul from a lineout, Wirral opened their account. 5-13.

Not the best start to the second half however with the rain stopping, sun coming out and wind lessening,  Lymm’s back line started to play. With the Lymm pack being expertly directed by scrum half Martin Henderson, front foot ball allowed for some lovely line breaks for Lymm centre Simon Beards with some runs deep into the opposition territory by wingers Josh Mckean and Tom Coghill. Unfortunately, Lymm were just missing that final touch to trouble the scorers.

Midway through the second half this changed, with a kick to the corner and the imperious line out option Nat Johnstone once again securing excellent lineout ball. The Lymm pack then drove the ball towards the try line, which resulted with stand in hooker (for the day) Jim France sneaking over the line for a well deserved Lymm try. With Jones’s radar as accurate as ever the converted try allowed Lymm to extend their lead to 5-20.

Later into the game, fitness levels on both sides started to drop with line breaks becoming a regularity. This resulted in Lymm finishing the scoring with Tom Coghill dotting down in the corner for a well finished 5 points. This concluded the scoring and secured Lymm a well deserved away victory continuing a 4 match unbeaten run.  With a dominate defensive performance and some powerful ball carries Man of the Match was presented to Kieran Williams.

*After discussion with the ref he had the scored down as 5-24 …… which could have been correct ….. but it wasn’t.

Team: 1 – Quin Peers, 2 – Jim France, 3 – Olly Brown (c), 4 – Aldin Zilich, 5 – Nat Johnstone, 6 – Craig Capewell, 7 – Kieran Williams, 8 – John Pryors, 9 – Martin Henderson, 10 – Rhys Jones, 11 – Tom Coghill, 12 – Simon Beards, 13 – Paul Jones, 14 – Reece Forrest, 15 – Ollie Larkin, 16 – Josh Mckean

Match Report: Oliver Brown