Lymm lose out

LYMM Rugby Union club lost out 23-19 in a game of two halves at Waterloo.
Waterloo completely dominated the first half and deservedly went in at half time 11 points to nil in the lead. In truth, they could have been further ahead, but for a knock-on over the line and an offside decision in Lymm’s favour when Waterloo players were about to score. Lymm rallied in the second half, won it 19 points to 12, and could have won the match if they had not gifted Waterloo their twelve points in the second half when trying to force the win.
Lymm started brightly, for all of two minutes, but then Waterloo took charge. Their pack put Lymm under pressure in the set pieces and played with more pace and collective skill in the open, forcing Lymm to concede penalties and providing a platform for their stand-off to dictate attacking play. The sun made it difficult for Lymm’s backs to defend the high ball, but clever cross-field kicks also limited their opportunities to counter-attack.
Waterloo went ahead 3 – 0 on 9 minutes and 6 – 0 on 16 minutes when Lymm’ forwards conceded penalties for not rolling away from the tackled player. Alex Bennett was yellow-carded on 19 minutes for persistent offences at the breakdown (not all by him) and not surprisingly Waterloo took advantage by scoring a pick-and-drive try on 24 minutes when he was off the field.
For some unknown reason, Lymm were not on top form. The weather was fine and although the pitch was (according to Jim Knowles) not properly marked, it was in reasonable condition. On another day players would have been much quicker to the breakdown to retain the ball when young centre Ferguson made a good half-break; the penalty kick to the corner would not have gone straight into the arms of their top try scorer, James O’Brien, and Matthew Barnes-Smith would not have pulled wide the only point scoring opportunity Lymm had in the first 40 minutes – a penalty in front of the posts. The omens were not good.
The half-time score was Waterloo 11 – Lymm Nil.
It is to the great credit of Lymm, especially the forwards, that they made a game of it in the second half. Scott Harrison came on at prop and his physical presence and drive helped to lift Lymm’s spirit. Sion Williams, Adam Bray and Jake Ashall lifted the spirits of Lymm’s greatly outnumbered supporters when they broke through the Waterloo defence, making several barn-storming runs up the middle that put Waterloo on the back-foot and thankfully, but regrettably only temporarily, silenced their supporters. It was Pete Allen and Sion Williams who were the forwards in possession when Lymm scored two tries on 48 and 71 minutes, one of which was converted. The National 3 League North rugby forum has accused Lymm of becoming one-dimensional and it is easy to see how this opinion has been formulated because these two tries came yet again, Birkenhead Park – style like, from driving mauls. It is good to be able to score in this manner, but the sooner Lymm’s potential to score from all over the park is recaptured the better for all.
Lymm tried to open up play on 60 minutes, but a fumbled ball directly in front of Lymm’s posts let in Waterloo for a soft try that extended their lead at the time to 18 points to 5. By the 71st minute the score was 18 – 12 and a Lymm win looked on the cards. It was such a pity that a loose pass on 73 minutes, straight to winger James O’Brien, Waterloo’s and one of the league’s top try scorers, allowed him to canter in, Strettle – like, to effectively put a Lymm win out of reach at 23 – 12, with only 7 minutes to go.
Lymm’s heads could have dropped, but they didn’t. Jake Ashall was held up short of the line with three minutes to go, as was veteran Chris Kinsey a minute later when he tried to out-fox the Waterloo defence by throwing an outrageous dummy and trying to dive over. Lymm’s team spirit, commitment, resilience and future potential was shown when former colt Henry Bellis (a replacement for Ferguson) scored his first open-age try with the last move of the match. Matthew Barnes-Smith converted to make the final score: Waterloo 23 – Lymm 19.
The losing bonus point keeps Lymm in fifth place in the league on 46 points, one point ahead of Birkenhead Park and five points ahead of Waterloo in seventh place. Lymm’s win last week against Beverley looks better than it felt at the time, given that Beverley beat Chester today. Two wins in the next two weeks against Altrincham Kersal (a) and West Hartlepool (h) would do wonders for Lymm’s confidence and help secure their place in the league. The ability is undoubtedly there, but the coaches need to work out how best to translate ability into performance on the pitch. This linkage was largely noticeable by its absence today.
Team: 15: Williamson 14: Barnes-Smith 13: Bray (T) 12; Fergusonr 11: Johnstone 10: Knowles ( c) 9: Kinsey 8 Bray (A) 7: Ashall 6: Oakes 5: Williams 4: Bennett 3: Widdrington 2: Allen 1: Ashton. Replacements: Bellis, Connelly, Harrison.