Senior Colts into the final!

To take a bunch of lads from Under 5’s to Senior Colts is an achievement in itself these days, as shown by there only being 13 pure Senior Colts teams, still competing in the Halbro NW Colts League, out of over 100 rugby clubs in the Northwest.

It’s been a tough season in the league for Lymm (who were runners up in the Junior Colts league last season), as lads have stopped playing for the club for various reasons, including moving on to sign pro RL contracts, captaining England U18s, choosing to pursue other sports and / or opting to concentrate on pending A levels.

Despite this, the remaining Lymm lads have rallied together and embarked on a Cheshire Cup campaign, beating Sale and Sandbach on the road, on their way to a semi-final against Macclesfield, again on Macclesfield’s home turf.

A healthy crowd gathered to watch what promised to be a tight and tense affair, played out on Macc’s first XV pitch.

And it was Macc who were first out of the blocks, with some clever darts from the base of the ruck, leading to the opening try (conversion missed) 0-5.

Lymm came straight back with some strong drives through the middle, resulting in a try under the sticks, which was duly converted 7-5.

It was now Macc’s turn to respond with 2 quick tries, the first from a catch and drive, with the second from a neat kick through and gather, to put Macc 15-7 ahead.

As the game see-sawed yet again, it was Lymm’s turn to score the next 2 tries, the first from more strong drives through the middle and the second after a number of phases and great ball retention – putting Lymm 21-15 ahead at the break.

As soon as the second half started Macc looked to have worked themselves into a 5 on 2 overlap & a chance to swing into the lead again, only for the first pass to be intercepted and returned 60 yards for a Lymm try and for the first time, some daylight between the teams, 28-15.

Both teams started to play a more expansive game, and it was Lymm who scored the next try, through their winger in the right-hand corner. Macc followed suit 5 minutes later, with a winger’s try of their own, to bring an end to the scoring and a final scoreline of Lymm 33 – Macc 20.

This was a really entertaining game, played in a good spirit, with a few key moments going in Lymm’s favour to secure the Final spot.

Lymm now go to the final, to be played at Macclesfield, against Stockport on the 27^th April.

The team’s Cheshire Cup sequence, now reads:

Under 15’s – beaten semi-finalists,

Under 16’s – winners

Under 17’s – beaten semi-finalists

Under 18’s – ?

All support on the 27th will be gratefully appreciated, in what will be a very tough encounter for this great set of lads, that have done the club proud !