Wilmslow 2XV 39 – 17 Lymm Eagles

Mixed Fortunes for Eagles in a Game of Four Halves

Games of rugby for Lymm Eagles do not come much stranger and harder than last Saturday when a good number of them had to play not just one, but two matches both at home and away. With injuries and absences continuing to adversely affect to number of players available to all three senior squads, the airwaves were alive all week between the captains of both the 2XV and 3XV to try and sort out how both their fixtures could be played.

The Eagles felt justifiably aggrieved that, after helping out the 2XV last week, their game they should have played against Marple was recorded by the League administrators as an Away Walk Over, whereas in actual fact it had been mutually agreed by both teams to postpone the match until later date when more players were likely to be available. This was the first time this season that Lymm had requested a match postponement although they had previously agreed to the rescheduling of all other games when this had been requested by their opponents. The AWO was decided by the Leagues rules committee, as only matches involving the club’s lowest teams could be postponed.  Whilst this applied to Lymm, it did not to Marple.  This seems like quite a punishing rule for a 3^rd team, when several 1^st teams have had the luxury of postponing against the Eagles.  Hey ho! Therefore, the Eagles were understandably keen not to request a postponement of their own away game against Wilmslow on Saturday, whilst still trying to help the Lymm 2XV fulfil their home fixture.

After much debating, it was finally decided that Captain Olly Brown, forwards Matt Grellier and Ben Stroud and backs Alan Reddecliff and Liam (Sully) Sullivan would step up to play for the 2XV against Blackburn with a 13.00h kick off at Crouchley Lane. When this match finished at 14.30h, these Eagles players together with 2XV forwards, Matt Hill, Nick Ashton, Sean Callendar and Gav Woods and backs Rory Riddell and Taron Soni, would immediately travel the 13 miles to Wilmslow to meet the other members of the Eagles team for a 15.00h kick off.  Although the timings would be tight, it would mean that both fixtures could be fulfilled but that around eight of the players would have played up to 160 minutes of Rugby in the back to back games.

Prior to taking the playing kit and water over to Wilmslow, this scribe attended the first half of 2XV home game against Blackburn and was able to seem some great open rugby from two very competitive teams.  The score at half time was Lymm 26 – 21 Blackburn, with Eagles player’s Alan Reddecliff and Ben Stroud both contributing points from two excellent individual tries. The play in the second half, remains a mystery (as I wasn’t there) but messages received confirmed a good win for Lymm 2XV with a close final score of Lymm 54 – 47 Blackburn.

Meanwhile, over at Wilmslow, stand in captain, Dave Coon, had to explain to a slightly incredulous Referee, that the kick off might have to be delayed by a few minutes as several of the Lymm team were still playing in another game and would be here as soon as possible. A quick look at the Wilmslow team warming up on the pitch indicated that, with no game for their 1XV team, the 2XV was taking full advantage of the available players to bolster their squad. Indeed, very few of the Wilmslow side were recognised from their previous visit to Crouchley Lane earlier this season in October when they received a 108 – 19 drubbing from the Eagles. Although an unnamed Wilmslow “spokesman” felt that this was undoubtedly due to Lymm loading our side with 1XV players, it was pointed out that Lymm had actually fielded all three senior teams on that date, so the idea of “loading” any Lymm team was perhaps more a likely to be a large case of sour grapes.  Eventually, by about 15.05h all the Lymm players who were available had arrived and the Eagles were able to assemble 15 bodies on the pitch. Unfortunately this did not include 2XV captain Matt Hill who had injured his thigh in the Blackburn game, and also Eagles captain Olly Brown, who was unable to join the starting lineup due to a combination of injury and exhaustion and so, wisely, occupied the sole spot on the bench until Sean Callendar beat the traffic to join him.

From the kick off Wilmslow were determined to make amends for their previous defeat. The Eagles front row of Nick Ashton, Dave Coon and Gav Woods managed to hold firm in the set pieces which allowed veteran scrum half Chris (Kinner) Kinsey to get quick ball out to the backs who did their best to work the ball out to Sully Sullivan and Stew Norman on the wings.  However, the tackling from Wilmslow was fierce and accurate and all the forwards had their work cut out trying to secure any worthwhile ball from the rucks and mauls.

The pace of the early game was frantic, and it was after only 6 minutes that Wilmslow opened their account with a score near the posts from a flying back. Rather surprisingly, the conversion was missed. (5 – 0). Further scores from Wilmslow at 12 and 17 minutes with one conversion raised the score to (17 – 0). Unfortunately, a last ditch attempted tackle by centre Tom Baker for the last of these, resulted only in a dislocated elbow for him and a trip to the local hospital for treatment.

Forwards Matt Grellier, Gav Woods, Ben Stroud and Mike Clarke worked incessantly, covering the pitch from side absorbing big hits and trying to make sure that no Eagle ball carrier became isolated. Lymm struggled to contain the powerful Wilmslow forwards and after about 25 minutes play their continued pressure was rewarded with another unconverted try (22 – 0). Unfortunately, a couple of minutes later, Matt received a thumping blow to his chin and throat bringing him and the game to an immediate halt. Given the nature and severity of the impact, it was surprising that it did not receive any comment or censure from the Ref (who we believe was being assessed) in the form of a yellow card or at least a penalty. As Matt was having difficulty breathing and appeared pretty stunned, he had to leave the field, not to return. With one man down, there was little option but to replace him with the already battered and bruised Olly Brown from the bench. Olly returned to the front row and rejigged the rest of the squad accordingly. The changes seemed to work and only a couple of minutes later, Rory Riddell took a looping pass from the ever present Rob Worsfield and with a couple of brilliant hand offs, managed to scamper in for an excellent, but unconverted, individual try. (22 – 5). The score put a bit of a smile on the Lymm players’ faces but unfortunately this only lasted about 10 minutes until almost on the stroke of half time when another well-orchestrated move from Wilmslow allowed one of their speedy wingers to glide in almost untouched for another converted try (27 – 5).

Half Time: Wilmslow 2XV 27 – 5 Lymm Eagles

Half time brought a welcome break to the Eagles tired bodies and captain Olly Brown did his best to raise flagging spirits. Shortly after the restart the ball found its way into Olly’s hands and in a change to his usual tactic of a headlong screaming charge at the opposition, he took aim and launched a brilliantly weighted cross field kick across half the pitch and straight into the arms of sprinting winger Stew Norman never knew you could kick a ball that far Olly! Talk about hidden talents. Stew crossed the line and made the touchdown accompanied by cheers from the massed ranks of the Lymm spectator (plus my grandsons). However the joy was short lived when the ref decided that Stew had been offside, and the score remained unchanged.

Play resumed and Lymm remained doggedly determined to keep Wilmslow out of the scoring zone, but bodies were becoming increasingly tired and tempers frayed and irritable. Jez Ure, enjoying a renaissance in form over the last few weeks, was instrumental in stopping several Wilmslow mauls set up from line outs, but Wilmslow continued to press forward and were finally rewarded with two unconverted tries in quick succession around the 67 minute mark to bring the score to (39 – 5). Shortly afterwards, Lymm were awarded a penalty just outside the Lymm 22.  However, after taking advice from the Wilmslow players, the referee changed his mind (a first for any referee?) and Gav Woods, who had displayed amazing stamina and skill playing in both games, received a yellow card for repeatedly “joining from the side” and retired to the bench.

The ref was well aware that the Lymm players were starting to struggle with the demands of the game and in view of the relatively short time left on the clock suggested that the game might be brought to a close a few minutes early, so everyone could get in to watch the England game. This sounded like a good idea to the forwards on both sides, but the Wilmslow 2XV captain, who had been on the sticky end of the 100+ points scoreline at Crouchley Lane, requested that the game be played out in full. (Cue: Hissing and Booing from this scribe).

Disappointed but not downhearted, Lymm Eagles dug deep into their boots and immediately launched a ferocious attack on a surprised opposition. Gathering the loose ball from midfield, Rob Worsfield, who had worked like a trojan throughout the game, drove hard and fast into fray making almost 20 metres before releasing the ball along the line to Rory Riddell travelling at full whack, who then sprinted through the open-mouthed opposition for a brilliant score near the posts on 32 minutes. Simon Beards excellent kick added the extra points. (39 – 12). Right from the restart, Lymm gathered the ball and with a clever switch of direction, shipped the ball out wide to the opposite wing where a waiting Sully needed no invitation to open his legs and show his class for a lovely score in the corner. Beardo was very unlucky to miss the kick from long range. With the score now standing at (39 – 17) the Wilmslow captain was probably regretting his decision not to finish the game early and probably did not want to risk Lymm getting a bonus point. After having a word with the ref, the final whistle brought the proceedings to a close.

Full Time: Wilmslow 2XV 39 – 17 Lymm Eagles

For better or worse, the team captains made the decision to play two games of competitive rugby with only 30 minutes gap. On paper, this might have sounded like a good idea, and it did provide Lymm 2XV to get a good win over Blackburn. However, it was fortunate that immediately playing a second game against a clearly reinforced and stronger Wilmslow side did not have any more serious or adverse consequences than those actually encountered. Tired Bodies = Bad Injuries.

Having said that, it is a testament to the passion and commitment of all those who put themselves up for and played in the double header, particularly Olly Brown, Gav Woods, Matt Grellier, Ben Stroud, Sean Callendar Rory Riddell, Taron Soni, Liam Sullivan and Nick Ashton (Plus Dave Coon, Matt Hill and Ash Freeman, who had volunteered to do both games). All of these get my vote for Men of the Match, together of course with a special award for Olly Brown for “Man of the Match Producing an Unexpectedly Accurate Kick of the Day.”

Next week, the Eagles host Manchester Medical School 1XV,3pm kick off at Crouchley Lane.

Team: 1) Gav Woods 2) David Coon 3) Nick Ashton 4) Mike Clarke 5) Ben Stroud 6) Matt Grellier 7) Taron Soni 8) Jez Ure 9) Chris Kinsey 10) Tom Baker 11) Stu Norman 12) Rory Riddell 13) Simon Beards 14) Liam Sullivan 15) Rob Worsfold

Bench: 16) Olly Brown 17) Sean Callendar

Tries: Rory Riddell (2), Liam Sullivan (1)

Conversions: Simon Beards (1)

Match Report: Pete and David Coon