Under 16’s Triumphant in Cheshire Cup Final

Not a day for the faint hearted

Sunday 12th March 2023 and Lymm Under 16’s and a large contingent of supporting parents, grandparents and friends etc travelled to  Anselmians RFC who were hosting the Under 16’s Cheshire Finals to play Anselmians Under 16’s in the Cheshire Cup Final.

Anselmians rugby club has undergone quite a transformation and the new clubhouse provided an excellent viewing platform for the large contingent of supporters from both sides.

With both teams primed and ready, the match kicked off and from the Lymm kick they immediately had Anselmians under pressure within their 22. The pressure continued but without Anselmians finding a way out, until good line running saw Oli Polec go over for the 1st try. With the conversion missed Lymm were 0 – 5 up within 5 minutes.

From the kick off Anselmians applied the pressure and drove towards the Lymm line and there now followed a period of to and fro up and down the pitch until Anselmians started to get control of the ball and camped in Lymms 22 but sustained defence saw them finally repelled and an excellent 50/22 kick by Fin Yeomans enabled Lymm to clear their lines and again exert pressure on Anselmians. However Anselmians were able to this time repel Lymm and drive them back towards their own goal line.

Anselmians were now guilty of giving away consecutive penalties and from the resulting tap another line break saw Oli Polec go over for his second try which Fin Yeomans duly converted. 0 -12 and looking good after 25 minutes.

Anselmians had to fight back and they did, but it was a poor Lymm decision which led to their try. A Lymm tap and go penalty on the halfway line led to possession being lost and Anselmians were able to break away and score under the posts, which they duly converted.

Half Time: Anselmians 7 – 12 Lymm

So began the 2nd half and Lymm appeared to go to sleep. Immediate Anselmians pressure and they were able to bundle over for a 2nd try which was converted 14 – 12.

Anselmians players and supporters were now invigorated and began to dominate the play which eventually led to a Lymm player being yellow carded reducing the team to 14 players. From the resulting penalty Anselmians took the 3 points. 17 – 12.

From the kick off Anselmians were on the front foot pinning Lymm in their own half. A scrum for a Lymm knock on saw the Lymm Full Back go in as the No. 8. The inevitable happened, Anselmians duly won the scrum, kicked over the defence and a player ran on to touch down. 22 – 12 (conversion missed). Things looked bleak. But….

On scoring the try Anselmians celebrated as though they had won, big mistake. Lymm were angry and responded magnificently with 10 minutes remaining on the clock Lymm pulverised the Anselmian defence eventually leading to a great breakaway try by Fin Yeomans which he duly converted 22 – 19.

Anselmians now looked worried but came back at Lymm, thwarting a number of Lymm breakaways however this was to be Lymm’s day.

From a tap penalty from Lymm on the halfway line, the forwards drove towards the Anselmians line and great handling saw Archie Gibbons crash over for a try (conversion missed) 22 – 24.

It was now anybodys game, but Anselmians were now well and truly rattled. The kick off didn’t make 10 metres. From the halfway line scrum Lymm were back up the pitch, a Lymm throwin on Anselmians 5 metre line was duly won and a quick turn of speed saw Harrison Turner go over for a try with the final play of the game 22 – 29.

Full Time: Anselmians 22 – 29 Lymm

Lymm had turned it completely around with a never say die attitude and ran out absolute champions.