Fylde 19
Lymm 61

Riddell stars in comfortable victory for Lymm

Lymm travelled to the Fylde coast where conditions were perfect for running rugby, a dry large pitch and a blue sky, something that’s has been a rarity of late. The home match earlier in the season had been close encounter and with Fylde one place above us in the league a competitive game was expected. With there being no 1st XV fixture and no home games, a group of elderly, well wrapped up Lymm supporters, made the journey and were not disappointed with the outcome and the standard and quality of rugby played by their team.

Lymm welcomed back Dan Horton from injury and James Sherlock was making his first appearance of the season. In the pre match build up it was emphasised by Coach Peter Millachip that we needed to play the game at pace and exert pressure in defence.

Lymm kicked off and the intensity in defence was shown immediately, as Fylde knocked on in the midfield, giving a Lymm an attacking scrum. Fylde managed to repel this attack but it wasn’t long before Lymm were on the attack again and from a penalty on the 22 metre line, Josh Davies opened the scoring, 0-3. Rory Riddell collected the kick off and made good yardage, as he did all afternoon and Jake Ashall chose a great line to burst through from the halfway line to be held up short. However good support play and patient recycling eventually saw Lymm drive for an unconverted try by James Pitcher, 0-8.

Lymm stormed through again from their own halfway as Josh Hadland, supported a break by Rory Riddell, which ended with Tom Baker being held up over the line. However a 5 metre penalty was awarded and a quick tap and three drives later resulted in a carbon copy of the first try, with James Sherlock powering over for a try converted by Josh Davies. 0-15, after 15 minutes and things were looking good. However Fylde, utilising their strong scrum, scored a converted try which Lymm responded with a Davies penalty, 7-18.

At the next kick off Lymm failed to exit the breakdown correctly and conceded a penalty which Fylde kicked to the corner and trundled over for an unconverted try from the ensuing line out. 12-18 after 25 minutes with everything to play for.  The next 15 minutes decided the fate of the game, as Lymm upped the pace with their back row dominating the breakdown and supporting well. Lymm pounded the Fylde line and as Josh Hadland ran across the field he found an opening and ghosted in for a converted try, 12-25. And it was that man again when after concerted pressure on one side of the pitch Richie McEvoy moved the ball quickly to the other side were Lymm had an overlap for Josh Hadland to dummy his way over for a converted try.

HT12-32

At half time the talk was about keeping the defensive effort going and keeping the pace of the game at a high level.

Fylde kicked off and for ten minutes they used their big forwards to break through the Lymm defence but it held firm and after a controlled period of ball retention, Richie McEvoy spotted a gap and broke the line to round the full back and score a converted try, 12-39. It was all Lymm now and they moved the ball well with further tries by James Sherlock, Alex Hickman, Dan Horton and Josh Hadland completed his hat trick, with Josh Davies converting one. Fylde were awarded a late converted try but this was Lymm’s day, as they move into 3^rd place in the league.

Ft 19-61

This was a good Lymm performance starting with strong defence and then utilising the pace in the side to move the ball around. The back row were excellent, winning numerous turnovers, breaking the line and supporting well. However the man of the match and winner of a Sextons pork pie was Rory Riddell who was everywhere. Next week Lymm will have another big challenge at home to Rossendale 2’s, who are never easy but if they take the same attitude into this match as they did against Fylde then it’ll be an excellent contest. All games on Saturday will kick off at 2:15pm

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