Errors cost Lymm dear

A poor performance saw Lymm go down 19-11 to a very ordinary Billingham side without even bringing back a solitary bonus point.
Lymm welcomed back Joe Knowles from a brief stay at Sedgeley Park to fill the problem stand off spot. The opening half was dominated by Lymm who pressured Billingham into defending their own 22 for long periods and forcing them into conceding a couple of easily converted short range penalties from Emmitt on 3 and 13 minutes. On 9 minutes Lymm’s continual failings of losing the ball in contact areas and missing tackles resulted in a Billingham breakaway try under the posts and negating the Lymm pressure.
On 30 minutes Lymm conceded two successive penalties which took the home side from defending their own 22 down to the other end where they took the benefit of a distinctly forward pass to send their winger over in the corner. Billingham, particularly their elusive centres displaying good running lines, continually showed themselves to be dangerous on the breaks which Lymm readily allowed them. Thus the first half ended with Lymm’s profligacy showed the scoreboard reading Billingham 12 Lymm 6.
The second half started with a period of scrappy play from both sides before Lymm again lost the ball in contact on halfway resulting in Billingham seizing the opportunity to work the ball out to their left winger who took full advantage of Lymm’s disarray to run round under the posts, Billingham 19 Lymm 6.
A defining moment in the 52 minute saw Lymm’s Emmitt dismissed under an unwarranted red card for what the referee defined as a dangerous ‘spear’ tackle after the opposition player was put down firmly on his back with his legs in the air. The situation was not helped by the tackled player taking unseemly advantage which even the Billingham coach and their spectators seeing as no more than yellow.
However this seemed to spur the Lymm 14 into a more cohesive game than they had so far shown with the result that it was the home side who were forced on to the defensive.
With four minutes remaining slick handling amongst the Lymm players on their 22 resulted in Billingham struggling to cover from which the returned Knowles took full advantage by slicing through the opposition backs and finding himself unopposed with just the remaining 70 metres to cover before putting the ball down in the right hand corner. Billingham 19 Lymm 11.
If Lymm had repeated their obvious capability throughout the earlier period of the game the score could have been so very different. Quote from coach Kinsey, “Nothing”, who marched smartly away to apply the hairdryer in the changing room.
After 5 League games, 3 of which were very winnable had they eliminated their continual lost ball and missed tackle errors, Lymm now find themselves in the lower echelons of the table with some difficult questions to address. It is however a young side with the forwards in particular having little to fear from even the top teams so the potential is obvious and the future much brighter than the trip up to Billingham would suggest.
Lymm; Widdrington, Oakes, Ashton, Giles, Darbyshire, Higginson (capt), Mullarky, A. Bray, Baker, Knowles (T), Barnes-Smith, Emmitt (2 pens), Bellis, McEvoy, Williamson, Williams, Allen, Smith.