Macclesfield 3rds 22 – 73 Lymm Eagles

Stuttering Eagles win the battle of the 3rds

Lymm Eagles continued their winning start to the season with victory away at Macclesfield 3s.  Despite the appearance of a one sided scoreline, the Eagles were made to work hard against a well drilled and aggressive Macc team and the result was not fully secure until the last 15 minutes of the game.

The Eagles arrived for this fixture full of confidence off the back of a victory against local rival Moore and boasting a strong squad for captain Olly Brown to pick from.  They were however well aware of the difficulties of facing a Macclesfield side at Priory Park.  Over the years of watching Lymm, this scribe has never visited Macc and come away with an “easy” victory. During the week, the Macc captain had been in touch to say that Macc were struggling to get to 15 players and may have to concede.  However, Olly offered several of the Eagles players to make up the numbers, meaning that 36 players ending up enjoying a game of Rugby.

Upon arrival, Priory Park was jam packed with spectators; keen to see Macc 1s playing at home in National 2 West, whilst half the carpark had been given over to a funfair.  The Lymm players were sent to park on an adjacent hill.  I say park, but due to the softness of the ground underfoot, most cars got beached and Jack Harpers van had to be rescued from the mud by the team after the match.

With Macc short of players, several Lymm players lined up for Macc at kick off.  Thanks to Mike Clarke and Dave Coon for stepping up in the 1^st half, with Jim France and George Harrison stepping in during the 2^nd half.  However, Lymm were still able to field a strong team.  Martin Henderson stepped in at Scrum half for the absent Chris Kinsey; Liam “Sully” Sullivan made a welcome return on the wing.  On the bench, Rhys Jones pulled on a Lymm shirt for the 1^st time in a year, whilst Adam Halford seems to appear out of nowhere, but always seems to be available for Macc away.  It was interesting having an insider ear on the pre-match team talk for Macc and memories from last seasons encounter between the two sides were obviously still  fresh in the mind.  “Don’t kick the ball to the number 11”.  Not sure if they meant Sully “5 tries” or Josh “yeah baby” McKean at this point.

The game kicked off and immediately Macc set out to prove that they were not going to be outplayed even with their numerical disadvantage.  Lymm tried to get going and strong runs from Kieran Williams and Max Ure seemed to give them the advantage, but this was squandered several times by Lymm again trying the extravagant went simplicity would suffice.  It was actually Macc who opened the scoring on 5 minutes after Lymm took the rather strange option of trying to play their way out of their own 5 metre line, only for a looping pass out wide to be picked off by the Macc winger to go over for a converted try (7-0).  If this was to act as a stimulant for Lymm, it didn’t work.  Chances seemed to be missed at alarming intervals and the Lymm players were also getting on the wrong side of the very old school referee.  The scrum was under increasing pressure whilst it was a struggle to secure quality ball at the line out (although as Macc had our best tight head in Dave Coon and Mike Clarke knowing our line out calls, it was quite easy to figure out why).  It seemed as though Lymm would get on the scoreboard in the 13^th minute as Sully rounded the defence to go in at the corner, only to see the ball dislodged in the act of scoring.  Don’t worry Sully, I don’t think anyone saw it….well maybe Macca and Reece saw it.  However, from the resulting restart, Sully atoned and went over in the corner for an unconverted try (7-5).  Lymm though struggled to retain possession and again were penalised for sloppy breakdown work.  On 22 minutes, Macc opted for a kickable penalty to extend their lead (10-5).  Lymm finally started to gain some traction in the game and Henders and Alan started to control the game and put people through gaps.  Alan in particular was determined to get his hands on the ball and on 25minutes, spotted a weak shoulder and rushed through the gap to go in for a try, converted by Macca (10-12).

This was quickly followed by more flowing rugby, interspersed with powerful drives from Craig Capewell, Ben Stroud and Steve Williams.  Looping passes from Tom Baker and Reece Forrest released Alan to go over for his 2^nd try, converted by Macca (10-19).  Macc though refused to back down and just two minutes later, pressured the Lymm backs into a loose pass that was scooped up by the Macc centre to go in under the posts for a converted try (17-19).  The game continued in this to and fro manner with Lymm storming back up the field, with great work from Jim France, Josh McKean and Olly Brown leading the charge.  A great switch move from the backs released Tom Baker, who maliciously targeted Dave Coon in the defensive line to go in untouched for a try, converted by Macca (17-26).  Almost from kick off, Max Ure stormed back up the pitch, swatting defenders away at will.  George Harrison carried on the drive, before a lovely offload back to Max to go over for a try, converted by Rhys Jones (17-33).  Macc had the last say in the half and powerful forward work had them camped on the Lymm line.  A floated pass (which may have been slightly forward), took out 4 Lymm defenders for Macc to score another unconverted try (22-33).

Half Time: Macclesfield 3rds 22 – 33 Lymm Eagles

Not the half Lymm had imagined and a lot more of a contest than I think a few Eagles players had thought.  The message was to cut out the mistakes and penalties, commit more at rucks and do the basics well.  Dave Coon and Mike Clarke returned to the scrum to add some power, with George and Jim going the other way.  Lymm also brought Jack Harper and Adam Halford onto the pitch, with both returning after trying and failing to get Jacks van out of the mud during the first half (although this scribe reckons he saw them on the Waltzers in the car park!!).  The start of the second half was delayed as the referee had to return to the changing rooms as the battery in his watch had died.  Upon returning, the ref also realised he had left his notebook behind, so not only had to ask this scribe for the half time score, but also if he could borrow a couple of precious pages from my notebook.  As he didn’t believe me that the score was 50-0 to Lymm, the bill for the paper will be in the post.

The second half kicked off and immediately Lymm starting using their new powerful forwards to work their way up the pitch.  It didn’t take long for a try to follow and from a lineout in the Macc 22, a powerful maul rumbled 10 metres, allowing Olly Brown a simple try, converted by Macca (22-40).  Lymm were still working hard in defence, but the wily Macc 10 had a very good kicking game.  Only last ditch cover from Ash Caffrey prevented the 10 from scoring a great chip and chase try.   After a mixed first half, Macca was determined to make amends and on 51 minutes, took a very quick tap penalty and slalomed his way through the grasping defenders to score a great individual converted try (22-47).

Lymm now had the ascendancy in the scrum (cough Dave returning cough) and as one rumbled forward on 54 minutes, Jack Harper broke from number 8 and bounded forward before brilliantly offloading to a flying Sully, who darted over for another try, converted by McEvoy (22-54).  Lymm’s progress was stymied somewhat by a yellow card for Tom Baker for an off the ball tackle as Lymm became frustrated with some of the refs interpretations. Macc took advantage of these indiscretions to fight back up the pitch, but there progress was halted as first Halford, then Harper striped the ball off the Macc ball carrier (in no way was  this George on both occasions).  It was from this second strip that the ball was fed to Max Ure, who again powered up the pitch unopposed for a try, converted by Macca in 63 mins (22-61).

Macc were visibly tiring a lot now and a couple of their players who were nursing a few knocks after a lot of hard work.  Lymm started to sense blood and gained excellent field position from a Rhys Jones 50/22.  The lineout was perfect and a great switch move between Alan and Tom Baker saw Baker trundle over for a converted try on 67mins. (22-68). The Macc kick off didn’t go the required 10metres and Lymm opted for a scrum.  From this scrum, a quick break from Baker fed the ball to Kieran Williams.  Although his pass to Reece went behind him, an aware Alan swooped on the ball and launched the ball wide to a waiting Ash Caffrey.  Despite having to check his run, Ash managed to sprint in from 30 metres out to score his 1^st try ever, with the conversion missed (22-73).  This was a fantastic reward for Ash, who has built up his confidence from supporter and social attendee to now being an ever-present at training and being able play an active role for the Eagles.  This try felt like rich reward for all his hard work and he was mobbed by his team mates in celebration as the referee decided this was probably an opportune moment to bring the match to an end a few minutes early.

Full Time: Macclesfield 3rds 22 – 73 Lymm Eagles

The Eagles come away with another victory with still a sense that they have not quite clicked yet and that they have more to come.  However, to come away with 2 big victories out of two games so far does bode well, but there are sure to be tougher challenges to come.  A massive thank you to Macc for being very gracious hosts and not taking the easy route of crying off.  Really competitive until the end and will have a good season when more players return.  For the Eagles, the biggest victory of the day was watching all 20 players finally get Jacks van out of the mud.  Proper team building.

It was, for the first time in a long time, difficult to select a real stand out candidate for man of the match.  Special mentions for Alan Reddecliff, who again controlled the game really well.  Craig Capewell and George Harrison carried strongly all game and never went missing in attack or defence.  Sully showed once again what a dangerous finisher he is.  Also a special mention to Macca as well, who does so much on the pitch, but because of his high standards, doesn’t always get the credit he deserves.  However, in this scribes humble opinion, man of the match this week should be shared between Max Ure and Kieran Williams.  Both got through a massive amount of work and probably kept Lymm in the contest in a difficult first half.  Well done both.

A final word on the success of Lymm.  News filtered through post-match of big wins for the 1s at Chester and the 2s at home to Macc 2s.  If someone had told me 10 years ago that we would be seeing these sorts of results at Lymm in a single weekend, I would be concerned at how much they had had to drink.  Now we are seeing this on a regular basis.  Very proud of all the lads that pulled on the green and black shirts today from 1sts to 3rds and all the volunteers who make it possible.  A pat on the back to you all.

Lymm are back at home next week against the first of three University teams when they come up against Liverpool University Veterinarians 1XV.  I already feel old and tired just thinking about it! 15:00 KO, All most welcome.

Team: 1) Olly Brown (C) 2) Craig Capewell 3) George Harrison 4) Ben Stroud 5) Max Ure 6) Steve Williams 7) Kieran Williams 8) Jim France 9) Martin Henderson 10) Alan Reddecliff 11) Liam Sullivan 12) Tom Baker 13) Reece Forrest 14) Josh McKean 15) Rick McEvoy REP 16) Dave Coon 17) Mike Clarke 18) Adam Halford 19) Jack Harper 20) Rhys Jones 21) Ash Caffrey

Match Report: Pete & David Coon