Report by Andy Leach
LYMM’S competitive season got underway in style when they made the short trip to Northwich for their First Round Cheshire Vase fixture, coming away with a 12-40 victory.
In weather that was probably the best offered by any Saturday over the summer to date, Lymm fielded a team that suggested we were still in holiday season, with many familiar faces missing.
Inevitably, coach Fletcher saw this as a great opportunity to give young players a chance, try new combinations and reward those that had put in the pre-season “hard yards”.
Northwich, who currently play their league rugby at the level below Lymm, would certainly have seen this as an opportunity to put down a marker and benchmark their own prospects of moving up a level.
It was clear from the kick-off that Northwich would present a good test for Lymm and were not just going through the motions. So it proved, and for at least the first 50 minutes or so of the contest, there was not much between the teams on the scoreboard. However, eventually, Lymm’s superior fitness and experience proved the difference and they ran out winners by 6 tries to 2.
It was 20 minutes before Lymm, through McEvoy, registered their first try, a lead they held for a mere 5 minutes until the Northwich right-wing dotted down, McEvoy got his second a few minutes, later following a fine break by Andy Davies from the host’s 10m line and Lymm turned round 14-7 to the good at the break.
Ten minutes into the second-half and Northwich scored again, bringing them to with 2 points of Lymm. But that was as close as it got.
With their fitness now coming to the fore, the power of the Lymm runners combined well with incisive running and tremendous support and link play by forwards and backs alike.
In the final 25 minutes Lymm added 4 further tries to Davies, Mullarkey, Captain Adam Bray, (playing in the unaccustomed position of second-row) and Makin. Of these, Makin’s was probably the pick of the bunch as all three members of the “front row union” had a part to play in an outstanding team score. Nolan added 5 conversions from 6 attempts.
Coach Fletcher was very pleased with the performance and the manner in which so many youngsters fronted up. If players stay fit and available he will certainly have a
few selection headaches in the weeks ahead. Next Saturday, Lymm travel to play Morley in the opening league game of the season, KO 3pm.
Squad: 1) Gavin Woods, 2) Rob Makin, 3) Kieran O’Callaghan, 4) Joe Watson, 5) Adam Bray (c), 6) Ross White, 7) Ali Sutherland, 8) Sam Mullarkey, 9) Andy Davies, 10) Scott Redfern, 11), Lucas Titherington 12) Tom Bray, 13) James Kimber, 14) Rich McEvoy, 15) Cormac Nolan, 16) John Millington, 17) Alex Stewart, 18) Tom Shard, 19) James Robinson, 20) Will Titherington.
