November gloom descends on Lymm

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LYMM welcomed Morley to Beechwood and while the weather and pitch conditions were good albeit there was an air of November gloom around which, sadly, the Lymm performance, ultimately, did little to lift.
Lymm made three enforced changes with Shard (debut), Emmitt and Williams replacing, respectively, the injured or unavailable Baker, Williamson and Ashall. Coach Fletcher also made positional changes in key areas with Adam Bray moving to hooker and White slipping into the back row and Tom Bray starting at fly half with Knowles reverting to full back.
Lymm started well putting Morley under pressure from the kick off and were making all the early running. They were rewarded with a Nolan penalty from 25m on 7 minutes and, on 11 minutes produced the team move of the match when a Tom Bray break from well inside his own half was well supported by Emmitt; Kahui’s presence made for quick recycled ball which was then shipped out to the right flank where Nolan ran in for a comfortable touchdown. Nolan was unable to add the extras from wide out but Lymm were ahead 8-0 and looking comfortable.
In their first foray deep into Lymm territory Morley were awarded a kickable penalty from 25m but the attempt went wide. The next period of play was pretty undistinguished with both teams guilty of unforced errors which made for a fairly “stop-start” affair. Whilst Lymm’s scrum was looking very strong putting Morley under considerable pressure, their line-out, after a decent start began to misfire – something that was to prove a problem for the Cheshire side until the final quarter when they appeared to rediscover their rhythm.
On 30 minutes Lymm extended their lead to 11-0 with an excellent Nolan penalty from 40m. As the half-moved into its final throes Morley began to find some consistency and confidence and, shunning a kickable penalty from almost exactly the same place as their earlier miss, took the touch option.
A catch and drive lead to a period of sustained pressure on the Lymm line which despite dogged defence (especially notable was Dugdale’s defensive contribution) ultimately led to a close range try on 37 minutes by the Morley scrum half. The conversion brought the score to 11-7. The phases from the kick-off led to Lymm being penalised for an infringement at the breakdown for which Kieran Williams was given a “team yellow”.
Despite starting the half with 14, Lymm looked comfortable and Morley appeared unable to make the man advantage pay. That was until the 46th minute when a piece of individual brilliance by the Morley centre – a chip over the first line of defence, gathering the bouncing ball and rounding the fullback – from deep inside his own half resulted in a converted try which appeared to change the complexion of the match. 11-14 down, Lymm now had to chase the match. They did put some good phases together at times but unforced errors or a lack of patience often proved their undoing. On 58 minutes Morley missed the chance to extend their lead when a 40m penalty fell short but in a manner reminiscent of their first try – shunned kick at goal; kick for touch; catch and drive; sustained pressure; eventual try – on 60 minutes they managed to extend their lead to 11-21.
There then followed what was, for the home supporters, a very curious and frustrating period of play with Lymm seemingly intent on kicking away possession – presumably in an attempt to gain field position and/or force a defensive error – rather than keeping the ball in hand and working through the phases. As the match entered its last 10 minutes something seemed to click for the home side as they started playing again as they had in the first quarter of the match and were fairly rewarded on 76 minutes with an unconverted try from a driving maul by Adam Bray, bringing the score to 16-21.
The final exchanges were all Lymm and a penalty kick to touch inside the Morley 22 as the last play was called gave them a chance to sneak a win. However, despite the catch being taken a handling error caused, probably, by over-enthusiasm lead to the referee signalling the end of the match and a very disappointing result for the home contingent.
On reflection, the match appeared to follow the pattern of a typical Lymm season in recent years – very encouraging start; woeful middle; strong finish.
Team: 1 Widdrington; 2 A Bray; 3 M Auden; 4 Kahui; 5 S Williams; 6 White; 7 K Williams; 8 Mullarkey; 9 Shard; 10 T Bray; 11 Rowley; 12 Emmitt; 13 Dugdale; 14 Nolan; 15 Knowles; 16 McGuinness; 17 Halford; 18 Wells


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Experienced journalist for more than 40 years. Managing Director of magazine publishing group with three in-house titles and on-line daily newspaper for Warrington. Experienced writer, photographer, PR consultant and media expert having written for local, regional and national newspapers. Specialties: PR, media, social networking, photographer, networking, advertising, sales, media crisis management. Chair of Warrington Healthwatch Director Warrington Chamber of Commerce Patron Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace. Trustee Warrington Disability Partnership. Former Chairman of Warrington Town FC.

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