Lymm Eagles 29 – 14 Stockport 3rds

Eagles Take Stock to Continue Unbeaten Run

Lymm Eagles continued their impressive run of unbeaten matches this season, with a hard earned victory against rival 3rd team, Stockport 3XVs. This was a tough contest, with both teams demonstrating very physical defences and a great “never say die”  attitude which kept this match a real contest right up to the full time whistle.

The last time these two teams met was back at the end of October, with the Eagles just nicking a 19-20 away victory in the last few minutes of the match in their tightest contest this season. I think that day, most of the Eagles felt that they were slightly fortunate to win, so today’s match would be an opportunity to show that the first result was no fluke. Since that game in October, the Eagles season has been sporadic, with games being either conceded or postponed, so much so that they have only played 3 fixtures, with one of them a friendly and another against 6 man Knutsford side (don’t worry, we lent them all our subs and a couple of passing strangers). Despite having not played much rugby, the Eagles were still facing a bit of a player shortage, with 9 regular players either injured or on holiday. Once again however, with the hard work of Olly Brown and his team, a squad of 19 players was assembled.

This included a first appearance for Marc O’Connor off the bench. Alfie Kinsey made the trip home from Uni to pull a shirt on. Jack Harper and Steve Williams made a welcome return in the back row, whilst Gav Woods ensured that Lymm could start the game with contested scrums. Due to a late arriving Alan Reddecliff, Rhys Jones was shifted to fly half to start the game. Injured pair Max Ure and Dave Coon took charge of the subs and tactics from the safety of the touchline.

Stockport kicked off and Lymm drove straight back up the field, with 2nd rows Ben Stroud and Mike Clarke leading the charge. This put Lymm well into the Stockport 22, where good rucking work allowed a platform for scrum half Chris Kinsey to get the ball moving quickly. After 3 minutes, the ball was worked to Rhys Jones, whose subtle short pass found a rampaging Kieran Williams who bulldozed his way over for a try from 19 metres out (see Kieran, it’s not always “from 20 metres out”). The try was converted by Rick McEvoy (7-0). Lymm carried on attacking, with the front row trio of Woods, Brown and Matt Grellier making ground with ease. The ball was shipped out wide to Alfie Kinsey on the wing, who broke from his own 22 deep into the Stockport half. His subtle chip kick over the fullback was brilliantly regathered by Rhys Jones leaping like a salmon, only to land and
immediately crumple to the floor in severe pain and had to be replaced. Post-match, it appears that Rhys has injured his ACL, PCL and dislocated his knee. Rhys has been so unlucky with injuries and everyone at Lymm wishes him a speedy recovery. Alan Reddecliff was brought on at fly half.

Stockport tried to get into the game, but were shut down by some strong tackles, particularly by centre Simon Beards. On 15 minutes Lymm worked their way back into the Stockport 22. In almost a carbon copy movement of the first try, Kieran Williams secured a loose ball and started his run towards the line before offloading to 2nd row Ben Stroud to complete the run in (at least 50m Ben estimated!) to dot down for a try converted by McEvoy (14-0). Lymm were growing in confidence but were still well aware of the threat Stockport posed, with some of their large ball carrying forwards and elusive backs gaining them some much needed territory. Honours in the scrums and lineouts were very even, and the next score would be crucial. 10 minutes later, the ball was passed along the line to centre Reece Forrest and, ignoring a 2 on 1 overlap, Reece went for personal glory but was held up over the line. From the resulting goal line drop out, the ball found winger Ash Caffrey. Having been ignored on the overlap, Ash showed his strength and pace to rampage down the wing to score a great solo try on 24 minutes, expertly converted by McEvoy (21-0).

It was at this point that the coaching experts, (Dave and Max) started making substitutes. This seemed to disrupt Lymm, with players confused about which position they were playing and the lineout stuttering for the first time. Lymm were also losing discipline, with the referee penalising Lymm several times. On 29 minutes, centre Reece Forrest got into a scuffle with the Stockport centre at the bottom of a ruck. Despite the Stockport 9 being allowed to rush in and give Reece a big shove on the floor, Reece was shown a yellow card for retaliation.

Stockport were now very much on the attack and the last 10 minutes of the half were played predominately in the Lymm 22. However, great defence from Jez Ure and Aldin Zillic, plus great work in the mauls by Mike Clarke allowed Lymm to survive. Lymm forced their way up field and when the Ref awarded Lymm a penalty against the touchline on halfway, there was shock when Macca called for his kicking tee. However, the massive +50 metre kick sailed through the posts for 3 points (24-0). Eagle eyed touch judge, Pete Coon, was literally stunned by Maccas kick, when the ball hit him in the chest behind the posts. Severely injured, he still bravely struggled to raise his flag and signal success. Reece Forrest returned to the game as the ref bought the half to a close.

Half Time: Lymm Eagles 24 – 0 Stockport

A good solid half, with Lymm showing that they could mix up their game with hard carries and lots of skills in the backs.  however, captain Olly Brown was well aware that the game could turn very quickly and that Lymm needed to maintain pressure and discipline. Back row Marc O’Connor was introduced to try and provide some more energy.

Lymm kicked off the 2nd half and it became immediately clear that Stockport had upped the intensity of their play. Stockport began to utilise their kicking game, trying to put the ball in behind the defence and make the large Lymm forwards turn around. However, the Lymm back 3 of Macca, Ash and Alfie were proving more than a match for this tactic and spent the first 15 minutes of the half expertly tidying up the ball. On 58 minutes, another long kick was fielded by Ash, who ran it back up the field with menace, before offloading to number 8 Jack Harper, who took the ball up into the Stockport half. The ball was quickly released and found full back Macca chiming into the line. Macca used his elusive running technique to break through and round the full back and go over for a good individual try. Unfortunately, his conversion bounced back off the post and so missed hitting Pete
again. (29-0).

With the game seemingly heading only one direction, credit must go to Stockport for not giving up and gaining some ascendancy as the half wore on. Credit must also go to the Stockport hooker and scrum half, who spent the whole half having to endure Lymm veteran scrum half Kinna whispering words of encouragement, offering unsolicited coaching advice and at one point, offering to put the ball into the scrum for them. The restraint they showed was admirable, as most would have taken a swing at Chris!

The game continued to swing from one end of the pitch to the other with no score. On 68 minutes, a speculative fly hack forward from Stockport rolled through the Lymm 22 and into the in goal area with a couple of chasing Lymm players close by. To save blushes, all an unidentified Lymm player needed to do was dot the ball down for a 22 drop out. Unfortunately, this poor Lymm player accidentally caught their foot on the post pad (or so he says), slipped and missed the ball, allowing the chasing Stockport player a simple touch down for a converted try (29-7). This scribe would never be as harsh as to reveal the identity of the unfortunate Lymm player as his eagle eyes let him down and he couldn’t tell who it was through the Forrest of players anyway, so I guess we will never know who it was. Alternatively, you ask Josh who filmed the event from the sideline and the recording will
be shown at the end of season Dinner as well!!).

This try seemed to act as a confidence boost for Stockport, whilst Lymm seemed to be visibly tiring. The game was still being played in the Lymm half, whilst the referee was really starting to dish out the penalties to them. On 75 minutes, Stockport broke through the middle, but their marauding centre was absolutely smashed by full back Macca. This was one of the best tackles this scribe has seen in a long time…. if only Macca had remembered to use his arms in the tackle. A lot of pushing and shoving followed, with perhaps one or two Stockport players (hello Stockport No.6) being allowed to get away with a few retaliatory punches, but inevitably Macca was shown a red card. Some of the Stockport players seemed to forget they were losing 29-7 and celebrated this as if Macca being sent off was the real victory.

Stockport used their one man advantage and worked their way up the pitch for a lineout, five metres out. In stepped coaches Dave and Max, who whilst sorting substitutes, managed to withdraw 4 players and only put 3 players back on, leaving Lymm to defend with only 13 men. Lymm managed to repel the attack, only for the Ref to penalise Lymm for going off feet resulting in a
yellow card for Matt Grellier. A quick tap saw the Stockport prop barrel his way over for a converted try to give the scoreline a better balance. Immediately after the kick, the referee decided he had seen enough and blew for full time (29-14).

Full Time: Lymm Eagles 29 – 14 Stockport

This was a good solid victory for the Eagles, with a lot of the hard work done in the 1st half. To be able to produce such a creditable performance having played so few games, showed the underlying level of skill and experience of the Eagle’s squad. The referee was very complimentary to both teams after the game, saying that he has officiated at higher level matches that have not been as good as this one. To get a good team out with so many injuries and unavailability shows great strength in depth.

Big thanks for Stockport for making the trip over. They have probably given the Eagles their two hardest games this season and we are sure that they will upset a few teams in this division (and hopefully do us a favour in the process!!). Good luck for the rest of the season.

There were definitely a few shouts for man of the match this week. Mike Clarke was great in defence and with his ball carrying got Lymm up the field. Jack Harper was a constant menace everywhere on the park today and sorted out a creaking lineout. Simon Beards marshalled the backs really well in defence and his 1 on 1 tackling was immense. What more can we say about the performance of Kieran Williams, just a colossal performance with and without the ball. However, it was agreed on the pitch that man of the match was shared between the two wingers Ash Caffrey and Alfie Kinsey. Both are relatively new to the sport, but their concentration, defence and enthusiasm today probably won Lymm the game. Well done to you both!!

Next week, the Eagles are at home in a top of the table clash with Manchester University Medics. Due to fixture postponements, this will be the first time that the teams have met, and this game will go a long way to deciding the season standings. 14:15 kick off. All are most welcome.

Team: 1) Gav Woods 2) Matt Grellier 3) Olly Brown (C) 4) Ben Stroud 5) Mike Clarke 6) Steve Williams 7)
Kieran Williams 8) Jack Harper 9) Chris Kinsey 10) Rhys Jones 11) Ash Caffrey 12) Simon Beards 13) Reece Forrest 14) Alfie Kinsey 15) Richard McEvoy REP 16) Jez Ure 17) Aldin Zillic 18) Marc O’Connor 19) Alan Reddecliff

Report by Pete and David Coon