by Andy Leach
LYMM were guilty of giving away some early Christmas gifts as they went down 38-40 at home to lowly Morley.
Lymm welcomed Morley to Beechwood for a match which, on paper at least, suggested another 5 points for Lymm on their move up the league table. With this match marking the halfway point of the season and Morley having registered their sole win to date on the opening day, Lymm’s confidence was high – probably too high as things turned out.
Lymm’s squad had an unfamiliar look with talismanic skipper Adam Bray missing, bringing to an end his run of 86 consecutive starts. Nevertheless, the Lymm team looked sufficiently settled to give confidence that, with conditions perfect for open rugby, a victory was on the cards.
However, in a disappointingly disjointed start, Lymm didn’t look quite “on it”. Morley registered first points on 4 minutes when fly-half Chester, a man whose boot had put paid to Lymm’s efforts in previous encounters, comfortably slotted over a penalty from the 10m line. 0-3
Lymm then put together phases of direct running, making good yardage towards the Morley try line coming away on 8 minutes with a Nolan penalty. 3-3
The next period of play saw Lymm failing to capitalise on their endeavours as imprecision and mistakes brought a number of promising opportunities to unproductive conclusions. On two occasions when Morley did cross into Lymm territory, Lymm were penalised with the ever reliable Chester boot adding to Morley’s tally. 3-9
On 23 minutes Lymm scored their first try, with scrum-half Davies going over from close range. This followed a Lymm scrum win against the head – the Lymm set piece was solid throughout the match – and strong runs from Bray and Watson. Nolan duly added the extras from wide out and Lymm’s noses were in front. 10-9
Lymm finally got moving on 70 minutes when Titherington went over in the corner following some precise lead-up play and good handling. Nolan slotted the conversion from the left touchline, as he did 5 minutes later when he touched down himself in identical fashion to Titherington’s earlier effort. 31-37
With 5 minutes left, a 6 point match and Lymm’s tail up, they couldn’t snatch the win,,,could they? Unfortunately, from the restart, Lymm were adjudged to have infringed, offering Chester the perfect opportunity to give the Yorkshire outfit some breathing space. Perhaps, recognising the importance of the kick, Chester almost fluffed it, only just squeezing the ball inside the left-hand upright. 31-40
Still Lymm came back at Morley and as the match neared its conclusion Davies, on the Morley 22, cleverly chipped over the advancing defence to score his second of the afternoon. Nolan quickly converted but the referee decided that there was no time for the restart and blew for full time. 38-40
Coach Fletcher was certainly worth avoiding after the match – with 21 points conceded from unthreatening field positions when Lymm were in possession of the ball he was not happy. Combining this with poor execution in attack and a surprising lacklustre defensive effort only served to compound his frustration.
Team:
1) Dan Horton, 2) Ross White, 3) Jordan Widdrington, 4), Mike Auden 5) Alex Kahui, 6) Joe Watson, 7) Matt Connolly, 8) Jake Ashall, 9) Andy Davies, 10) Will Titherington, 11) Chris Owens, 12) Ollie Higginson, 13) Richard McEvoy, 14) Cormac Nolan, 15) Tom Bray, 16) Jack Harper, 17) Tom Shard, 18) Tom Baker
