LYMM 9 – 6 WATERLOO Report by Neil Allen
High-flying Waterloo travelled to Beechwood on the back of a great win against Sheffield Tigers, whilst Lymm were trying to forget the previous week’s heavy defeat by Rossendale.
All the signs pointed to a stroll for Waterloo but it’s a funny old game this rugby lark as any Scottish fan will testify!
Lymm made a number of changes; Rick Halford coming in for the suspended Joe Knowles at full-back, Chris Jones returning a scrum-half and most notably Jake Eccleston making his first start in the centre following his season in rugby league. Whilst there had been a deluge in the morning the pitch was in fine condition. Waterloo kicked-off with the slight breeze in their favour.
The game started and the script looked to be playing out, with Waterloo camped in the Lymm twenty-two for the first ten-minutes, Lymm conceding penalties and unable to escape. Waterloo had several drives at the line but Lymm defended well, not always legally according to the referee and Zak Lythgoe received the first yellow card of the day. Lymm weathered the storm through a combination of good defence and Waterloo errors and began to grow into the game.
Lymm confidence grew and they started to gain territory and eventually a penalty, which Richard McEvoy comfortably slotted. Lymm continued to ask questions of Waterloo and another penalty followed. 25-minutes gone and 6-0 to Lymm. Waterloo came back at Lymm and won a penalty of their own to take it to 6-3. The remainder of the half saw Waterloo on the attack and the penalty count against Lymm rising. On the stroke of half-time the referee had seen enough, Tom Bray received the second yellow of the half and Waterloo kicked the ensuing penalty to make the half-time score 6-6.
The second half started and Lymm immediately received a penalty of their own, Richard McEvoy slotting over from long-range to take Lymm back into the lead at 9-6. Waterloo started to use the extra man and ask questions of the Lymm defence. The Lymm defence stood firm and the next 30-minutes saw neither side unable to break the deadlock as both defences dominated. Whilst the game was competitive it certainly wasn’t a spectacle as attacks from both teams petered out in the middle of the field, with either a dropped ball or the sound of the referee’s whistle.
With 10-minutes to go, the players conscious that the crowd were beginning to wander back to the clubhouse to watch the world cup semi-final, sprang into a bit of life. First it was Lymm’s turn to put pressure on the Waterloo line with Lythgoe going through his repertoire of off-loads. Only ‘white-line fever’ and strange decision making, spinning it out of a dominant scrum, stopped Lymm going over.
The next few minutes saw Waterloo searching for victory through the backs. The last play saw a ‘heart stopping’ moment; the Waterloo winger scenting victory, head down sprinting for the corner only to be superbly bundled into touch by Rick Halford.
This was a game littered with mistakes and not one that will stick in the memory for either team but a great win for Lymm nevertheless and just about deserved. A valuable 4-points, which should give the team confidence going into the fixture break. Well-done lads you can do it.
Team:
1) Dan Horton, 2) Ross White, 3) Nick Ashton, 4) Zak Lythgoe, 5) Alex Kaihau, 6) Aaron Rasheed, 7) Jake Ashall, 8) Adam Bray ©, 9) Chris Owen, 10) Ollie Lancaster, 11) Mark Wells, 12) Tom Bray, 13) Jake Eccleston, 14) Richard McEvoy, 15) Richard Halford, 16) Mike Auden, 17) Jack Harper, 18) Cormac Nolan.
