Lymm RFC v Otley RUFC – Saturday 19th October 2024

As ever, it gives me enormous pleasure to welcome you to Beechwood for our 7th league fixture (and our 3rd home game) of the season.  I would also like to extend a very warm welcome to our visitors (and old friends) today, Otley RUFC.

I am reasonably sure that we have yet to play a team (at any level) which can count a Nobel Prize winner amongst their past players so Otley are unique in that regard as their former 2nd XV back row in the 1970s, Albert Fert, jointly won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 2007 having discovered Giant Magnetoresistance, which revolutionised techniques for retrieving data from hard disks and allowed huge amounts of data to be squeezed into ever-smaller spaces – now used by billions of people on their computers and digital music players. Although not a Nobel Prize winner, another Otley member who is deserving of special mention is Betty Tipping, who presented Otley with a wool tapestry (containing more than 26,000 stitches) of the Otley coat of arms when they moved to Cross Green in 1954. The tapestry had taken her nearly two months to complete and was placed above the fireplace in the club room, where I believe it remains to this day. Such is the rich tapestry (yes, that bad pun was intended) of Club life!

According to the ever unreliable RFU website, Lymm and Otley have played each other on 4 occasions previously with our visitors today having won 3 of those 4 fixtures. When we played Otley at Cross Green last season it was something of a breathless encounter. Lymm trailed 26-3 inside 18 minutes but after scoring three second half tries in nine minutes, we seemed to have control of the game, leading 31-34. Unfortunately, we were undone when Otley scored two converted tries in a five-minute spell in the final quarter and we lost that game 45-34.

In the return fixture last February, Lymm came close to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. We worked hard to turn round at the half time 10–0 up and soon after the re-start, increased that lead to 15–0. It looked as though we were heading for a convincing bonus point win but Otley upped their game and forced Lymm on to the back foot, dominating possession, leaving Lymm desperately hanging on for a 15-14 win.  All this points to a closely contested game this afternoon.

Our last home game was against Harrogate and a 57-24 victory saw us move to the top of the League, ahead of Leeds Tykes on points difference. Following that game, National League Rugby said of Lymm “…it is still very early days in the season but on last week’s National League Rugby Preview Show, you got the feeling that the North-West outfit don’t want their blistering form to stop any time soon”

By the time we began the long trip to face Tynedale (now coached by the legendary Dean Richards) last weekend, Lymm had been knocked off top spot following Leeds Tykes’ victory at home against Wharfedale on the Friday, 33-12. In what turned out to be another great away performance, Lymm secured their sixth successive victory with a thrilling win over Tynedale, 32-37. This game was a classic contest between two differing styles of rugby (Tynedale’s large pack against a Lymm side with smaller (but more mobile) forwards and a back line that play with flair and imagination) and it was the flair and inventive attacking play of Lymm that eventually won the day.

We have a long season ahead of us and although “one swallow does not make a summer” Lymm have a perfect record to date and have scored more points (261) than any other team in National League Rugby. It is no wonder then that Lymm were named as the RFU’s September’s Grassroots Team of the Month at Men’s Level 3&4. Following that award, Director of Rugby Adam Fletcher said: “What an unbelievable month. The hard work the lads put in this summer has paid off. The wins against Chester and Fylde are some of the best I’ve been involved in and the try we scored just before half-time at Chester epitomises everything we’re trying to achieve.”

Lymm Eagles also remain unbeaten this season and are top of the table following their 108 – 19 demolition of Wilmslow’s 2nd XV last weekend. The 2nd XV lost 33-15 away to Blackburn’s 2nd XV but are in a more than creditable 6th place in what is a very competitive league.

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 this weekend.