Wirral 37 -28 Lymm by Simon Plumb
IT was not a great weekend for rugby if you were an Englishman from Lymm.
Wirral gained promotion to this league two seasons ago and, after a period of adjustment, are now more than capable of holding their own in this very competitive National Three North Division. Lymm, without a few key players, continue to be fractious and indecisive, resulting in a patchy performance that had defeat written all over it from early on.
Wirral’s first try came from a strike against the head 25m out. The ball was moved slickly to the right where the score in the corner gave the home side a 5-0 lead. Wing Corman Nolan then missed a relatively easy penalty in front of the sticks and, having been humiliated in the scrum the Lymm pack then shoved Wirral backwards. This scrum dominance however was an illusion, particularly when No 8 Adam Bray was sin binned after 17 minutes. Wirral took full advantage and from a line out scored again 3 minutes later, duly converted, 12-0.
Despite the benign conditions the first half was almost wholly played in the Lymm half, including a couple of serious leg injuries to Wirral players, notably the domineering fly half. Lymm’s play lacked both cohesion and precision with Lymm being penalised time and again particularly at the break down.
Any momentum from Lymm was halted especailly when the cries of pain from the second leg injury halted play and a potential try scoring opportunity for the visitors. Loose kicking from Lymm then allowed Wirral to run back and good hands gave them a third try making it 17-0.
This seemed to wake up Lymm who gained some continuity at last, as they moved the ball through several pair of hands from left to right, and centre Richard Halford went over for right wing Nolan to convert, making it 17-7 at half time.
From the kick-off Lymm seemed intent on taking the game by the scruff of the neck only to be kicked deep back into their own territory due to a late tackle by back row by Kieran Williams. The next scores were going to be important but they came from Wirral in quick succession, in the form of two, very similar forward oriented tries near the posts making it 31-7.
At this point the visiting crowd gave up all hope of a win, but to their credit, Lymm players refused to. Sustained pressure from the visitors, with back row Ashall and second row Lythgoe prominent, meant they went close a number of times but were held up over the line. From the resulting 5m scrum Mark Wells on the left wing burst over in the left corner which scrum half Tom Shard expertly converted from wide out, 31-14.
The ref continued to thwart good build up from Lymm, particularly penalising a suspect forward pass that the crowd, in line with play, questioned vociferously. From an attacking line out, run efficiently all afternoon by Wirral, a penalty was awarded edging Wirral to a 34-14 lead after 66 minutes.
With nothing to lose Lymm threw the kitchen sink at the hosts and began to play with flair and intent. Where was this earlier in the match? Tom Bray, after great build up play, eventually scored wide out on the left which again Shard converted well making it 34-21.
Smelling blood, and possibly redemption, Lymm went through too many phases to count for hooker Dan Horton to crash over with 5 minutes left, with reserve and former colt Oscar McCormack showing good form. Shard again converted and, at 34-28, Lymm at the very least, had two bonus points in the bag. More than that they had a chance of an improbable win.
The superb pick and drive game continued from Lymm until they were caught, isolated in possession. The penalty gave Wirral a concluding 37-28 winning score, much to the relief of the home crowd, and losing Lymm a bonus point.
Coach Adam Fletcher, when he was able to speak, commented; ‘Penalties kill any momentum and our discipline, at times, was atrocious.’
Team: J Widdrington, D Horton, N Ashton, A Rasheed, Z Lythgoe, K Williams, J Ashall, A Bray, T Shard, O Lancaster, C Nolan, T Bray, R Halford,R McEvoy, J Knowles. Reserves: M Auden, M Wells, O McCormack.
