Lymm RFC v Fylde RFC – Saturday 21st September 2024

It gives me enormous pleasure to welcome you to Beechwood for our 3rdleague fixture (and our 1st home game) of the season.  I would also like to extend a very warm welcome to our visitors today, Fylde RFC, more of whom later.

On 9 September 1965, an American naval pilot, James Stockdale, was shot down and taken prisoner as he led a raid into North Vietnam. Stockdale’s imprisonment lasted over seven years, during which he was repeatedly tortured, denied medical attention and kept in solitary confinement. He was the highest-ranking officer in the infamous ‘Hanoi Hilton’ Prisoner of War camp and saw countless others die and give up but he survived. When asked what sort of people didn’t make it out of the camp, Stockdale’s response was clear: “Oh, that’s easy. The optimists” His perspective on acknowledging the reality of your situation while still holding to the belief that things will work out became known as the Stockdale Paradox. “So, what has that got to do with Lymm?” I hear you ask.

At this stage last year, our playing record was Played – 2; Lost – 2 and by the Christmas break it was Played – 14; Won – 5; Lost – 9 but as the season progressed, the maturity of our coaching staff and players shone through in a real “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” way i.e. the Stockdale Paradox. And as we know, Lymm finished last season in a very respectable 10th position.

This season, we opened on 7th September 2024 with a visit to Hull Ionians and, after a slightly frustrating 1st half, when we conceded a number of penalties early on, Lymm took the initiative in the second half and ended the game deserved winners, 27 – 39.

Last weekend, we had a local derby to look forward to (for a change!) – Chester away. The final score was Chester 19 – 51 Lymm and, in the interests of balance, I think it only fair to reproduce here the comments of a Chester supporter posted on the National League Rugby Discussion Forum after the match: “After last week I was pretty confident of getting a result at home against Lymm, but they spoiled our party, and spoiled it well. Lymm controlled the game from start to finish and were consistent throughout. Everything we threw at them they soaked it up and then punished us with their counter attack. The first half ended with the visitors 41-5 ahead – there was only ever going to be one winner after that. The second half yielded two converted tries for Chester, but the losing bonus proved elusive. Though we finally managed to break Lymm’s defence, our own seemed to falter. Countless missed tackles kept possession with the visitors and limited Chester’s chance to mount a comeback. After watching the warm-up before the game, it didn’t really come as much of a surprise to see Lymm take the spoils. They looked fit and well-drilled and this continued into the match proper.”

In fact, last Saturday was a wonderful day generally – Lymm 2s scored a resounding 65 – 22 win at home against Macclesfield 2s and Lymm 3s, the Eagles, romped to a 73 – 22 win at Macclesfield 3s. (Lymm – 3 T’Others – 0 as the old scoreboard would have read).

When Lymm played at Fylde in our 5th fixture last season, in truth, I don’t think anyone saw us coming away with much from our first ever National League trip to The Woodlands but strange things happen in sport. With only 2 minutes left on the clock Fylde took the lead and were 14 – 12 up, but, from the resultant kick-off we were awarded a lineout on their 22, which we won and after a couple of phases, Tom Shard dropped into the pocket and kicked a magnificent drop goal (à la Johnny Wilkinson) to steal the win for Lymm, 14-15. I will remember that moment for a long time. Fylde certainly put that defeat to bed with a fabulous second half performance and resounding 28-50 victory when they came to Beechwood for the return fixture last January.  All the best to both teams as they take the field today in what I am sure will be an entertaining and hard fought encounter.

All that leaves me to say is that I wish all the teams, their coaches and support staff, who represent Lymm at every level, from Minis & Juniors up to Senior Rugby, the best of luck for this season!!

Varun Maharaj, President