Presidents Welcome

Welcome back to Beechwood after what has been a rather extended break from competitive rugby.  I hope everyone has enjoyed the Festive period and may I take this opportunity to wish you and your families a happy, healthy, and peaceful New Year.

Lymm’s last outing was on the 3^rd of December away to Rossendale, which is fair to say was not a good day at the office, seeing us well beaten 36-14 in the most appalling conditions for players and spectators alike!

Today we extend a warm welcome to our Lancashire neighbours Blackburn, who are currently flying high on top of the table leading us in second place by 12 points and looking strong promotion candidates though I expect Lymm to have something to say about that today.  In the away fixture, back in October, Lymm scored an excellent try by Skipper Yates in the opening minute of the game. After this we rarely saw the ball again and regrettably ‘Yatesy’ hasn’t played since following a concussion injury in the second half although there is a rumour he may make an appearance for the 2s today – back at Blackburn.

This game is a ‘must win’ to keep our promotion hopes alive. In my view the change of surface and style of play sought by Fletch and Andy will be significant. For the statisticians amongst us, Lymm currently lead the home points scored table with 316 and have the best defensive home record with just 61 conceded. Everything points to a great clash, and I hope some entertaining rugby in what I am sure will be a close fought encounter with defence coach, Tom Bray’s, input being vital.

In other news, attendees at today’s game will notice we have started some enabling works for the new Tennis courts in the walled garden.  This is a significant step as we move forward on a slow but steady footing with our overall club development plans.

Despite last month’s home game against Northwich being postponed at the last minute, a hardy bunch of over 63 members decided that a little bit of inclement weather was not going to stop the afternoon’s ‘main event to boost bar sales’ going ahead. Some outstanding stalwarts attended the club and Panto for over 12 hours that day; though several were unrecognisable by midnight! These lunches are proving popular, so if you are interested in attending, please let me know.  We have very limited availability between now and the end of the season although the Sandbach game has been rescheduled for 4^th February when we shall also screen the 6 Nations internationals.

Sunday sees the Club host the North Division’s under-18 County games with Cheshire v Lancashire kicking off at 11:00, Yorkshire v Northumberland at 13:00 and Cumbria v Durham at 15:00.  At the time of writing Lymm have 6 members in the Cheshire squad, which once again is an excellent tribute to the Club, the M&J section and all the coaches who do such a marvellous job of nurturing and developing the next generation of players.

Once again Happy New Year to you all and let’s get 2023 off to a bang with a great weekend of Rugby.  As I have no intention of trying ‘Dry January‘, due to the company I keep, I will see you in the bar later!

Cheers

Neil Kelly, President