Hull 29 – 23 Lymm Report by David Millachip
LYMM held on to third spot in the Lational League Three North despite a narrow defeat at Hull.
It was only early February that Lymm entertained Hull, although it was on Burnage’s AstroTurf pitch due to Lymm’s ‘real grass’ being rendered unplayable by
the continuous wet weather.
In an extremely close game, Hull took the league points in the 74th minute with a massive 45m touchline penalty.
Having allowed Hull to lead only twice in the ‘home fixture’, Lymm boarded the coach and headed onto the M62 for the journey to the east coast with a determination to avenge the earlier defeat. Lymm’s bonus point win over Burnage the previous week, saw them return to 3rd place in the League in place of Hull. So, very definitely a game with all to play for in this penultimate match of the season.
It was a changed squad from the previous week that took to the field; with Mike Auden starting and replacing the injured Dan Horton; captain, Adam Bray moving to open side to allow the influential Ollie Higginson to return at 8; Mark Dixon moving to stand off from full back, Tom Bray moving to inside centre to replace the injured Callum Harris and prop Nick Ashton coming in to replace Rob Makin on the replacements bench.
Lymm kicked off with a stiff cold northerly wind at their backs and the promise of sleet showers to come. It was Hull who applied the early pressure forcing Lymm back with a kick down the left wing which was returned and gathered by Hull who moved the ball across field to their winger Karim whom put a neat kick through for centre Martin to score by the posts. A simple conversion saw Lymm 0-7 down after only 5 minutes. On 10 minutes Lymm were offered a chance to reduce the arrears from a penalty just inside the halfway line but Shard’s kick fell just short,
Both sides were playing an open game but an offside decision against Lymm just outside their 22 metre line saw Hull kick to the 5 metre mark, where a catch and drive took them over the try line but a resolute Lymm defence prevented the ball going to ground. Intermittent sleet and showers mad handling difficult for both teams.
Lymm then started applying the pressure and some neat and speedy hands moved right with Ollie Higginson delivering a perfectly weight miss pass for Richard McEvoy to go over in the right hand corner, 7-5. Lymm were now well and truly off the bus, with Tom Bray, Richard Halford and Mark Dixon making telling breaks into the home 22m area. This pressure resulted in Hull conceding another penalty, this time 20 metres out close to the touchline. Shard’s firm and accurate kick saw the ball sail between the posts to put Lymm ahead for the first time at 7-8, before the referee’s whistle ended the half and the team’s headed for the dressing rooms to escape the elements.
The second half started with Tom Baker replacing Tom Bray at 12, the latter suffering from injured ribs. Hull recycled the ball well and after making good ground down their left, gained a penalty close to the Lymm 5 metre line. They then took the somewhat inexplicable decision to opt for a scrum, despite Lymm being dominant up front up to that point. They failed to get clean ball and conceded a penalty themselves, thus allowing Lymm to relieve the pressure with a kick to touch.
It was still defences that were dominant, denying their opponents good scoring opportunities. Hull were beginning to look the more likely to score, despite the Lymm pack being the stronger of the two but the back line was not quite up to their sharpness of previous weeks. Helped by the wind Hull pushed Lymm back into their own half from where they struggled to escape and on 45 minutes a Lymm box kick was gathered by Hull on the left and the ball swiftly being fed across field to centre Heard whose mazy run left the Lymm defence somewhat mesmerised as he ran in to score. Stand-off Bragman added the extras to put Hull ahead at 14-8. From the restart, Hull swiftly conceded an offside penalty enabling Shard to reduce the arrears from 10 metres, 14-11. It was Hull’s turn to apply the screw and a lineout close to the Lymm line saw their well organised pack repeat their well practised catch and drive routine, this time being successful with the touchdown, stand-off Bragman again being on target with the conversion to enable Hull to open the gap at 21-11.
Lymm were refusing to believe the 10 point margin beyond their ability to close and almost on the hour mark they gained a penalty 10 metres from the Hull line on the left. A swift line out saw the ball fed out to stand off Dixon who put a deft grubber kick through the Hull back line for alert centre Baker to touch down with Shard being successful with the conversion, 21-18.
It was now Lymm mounting a strong offensive phase and from the Hull kick off, Lymm secured the ball which was quickly fed out to winger McEvoy on the left. He attacked with speed down the line and chipped past a Hull back, who promptly took him out with a late charge. This earned him an instant yellow and 10 minutes in the sin bin to think about his action. The resultant penalty kick saw Lymm on the home 5 metre line, where a well worked lineout saw hooker Ross White’s throw to the front being knocked down him by No.8 Higginson and White who ran through a flat footed Hull defence to score. Shard’s conversion attempt drift just wide of the far post in the wind, 21-23.
With the clock running down Hull followed up their kick off down the left side and forced Lymm into conceding a penalty 10 meters out. Once again No. 10 Bragman carefully set the ball up and placed it neatly between the posts to put Hull ahead on 24-23. Lymm responded well and forced play up to the home 22 but a handling error saw Hull speedily move back into the visitor’s half. From a scrum in the Lymm 22, the Hull forwards put together a series of rolling mauls which eventually resulted in a try out on the right. Bragman missed the kick and shortly after the restart, the ref blew the final whistle.
Hull’s final try earned them a 4 try bonus point and Lymm’s determined afternoon’s efforts gained them a vital losing bonus point. The other league fixtures produced some unexpected results but Lymm retained their 3rd place, just 1 point ahead of three other teams, with the final games of the season to be played next week.
Next Saturday Lymm play the final league fixture at home to Billingham. To guarantee finishing the season in 3rd place, they need to win with 5 league points that includes an additional 4 try bonus point. That will not be easy and Lymm will need to be at their best against a side that defeated league leaders and promoted champions, Sheffield Tigers.
Team: 1) Jordan Widdrington, 2) Ross White, 3) Mike Auden, 4) Will Baldwin, 5) Sion Williams, 6) Jack Harper, 7) Adam Bray (C), 8) Ollie Higginson, 9) Tom Shard, 10) Mark Dixon, 11) Richard McEvoy, 12) Tom Bray, 13) Richard Halford, 14) Chris Owen, 15) Cormac Nolan, 16) Aaron Rasheed, 17) Nick Ashton, 18) Tom Baker.
