Wirral 19
Lymm 11

Both sides entered this game with a win and a loss from their first two games of the new season, thus knowing that a win would catapult them up the league table.

The opening to the game – played on a good dry pitch and with no wind to speak of, saw an initial mistake at the kick-off by Wirral, which handed early possession to Lymm. This possession was rewarded when after only three minutes, Lymm were awarded a penalty, which the goal-kicking hero of the previous week, Cormac Nolan, was able to strike over from 30m out. 0 – 3.

The initial setback did not impact Wirral, who quickly established a period of possession, though their primary aim was to continually launch the ball deep into the Lymm half, and to exert intense pressure on the Lymm defence. This then became the pattern of play for the first half. 20 minutes into the game and following a scrum in the Lymm 22, the ball was passed dexterously through the Wirral backs, to allow their left winger to score in the corner. The conversion failed. 5 – 3.

Possession for Lymm was at a premium and quite sporadic, resulting in few inroads into the Wirral 22, however on one rare incursion, 39minuues into the half, there followed another Wirral infraction, up stepped Nolan to convert the penalty, and give the lead back to Lymm. 5 – 6.

In what should have being the last minute of the half, Lymm unfortunately kicked away good possession, and compounded the error by giving up another penalty. This allowed Wirral their last chance. In what became over five minutes of time added-on, Wirral were able to work their way up the pitch and following a line out in the Lymm 22, set up an unstoppable maul which allowed a Wirral forward to score. This time the conversion was good and shortly afterwards, the whistle blew for half-time. 12 – 6.

The start of the second half, saw the introduction of all three of the Lymm replacements. There was some improvement in possession, however all too often any planned moves were either thwarted by a stubborn and well organised Wirral defence [including astute use of the offside law] or by a sequence of ever-increasing number of handling errors by the team in green and black. Following a succession of penalties at the breakdown, awarded against Lymm, prop forward Woods was yellow carded. Wirral benefited from having the additional man, and following successive scrums and then a loose maul, a Wirral forward emerged from the melee to score under the posts. An easy conversion ensued and the score was now. 19-6.

Again there was a prolonged period of Lymm having both possession and territorial advantage, but like earlier, they were never quite able to string sufficient passes together to build enough pressure on or near the Wirral line. It was only in the last five minutes, when after a Lymm attack was only stopped by Wirral infringing and having a man yellow carded, that Lymm enjoyed some sustained presence in the Wirral 22. With less than five minutes left, a determined attack allowed winger Richard McEvoy to beat several defenders and score out wide in the right corner. The conversion attempt was always going to be difficult, and so it proved. 19 – 11.

It would be essential for Lymm to win the restart in order to attempt to snatch any reward from the game, alas the restart was lost, and Wirral were able to run the game out. The final score being Wirral 19 – 11 Lymm.

Overall Wirral were deserved winners, scoring three tries to one. They had done their homework and stuck to their game plan. They endeavoured to keep Lymm on the back foot throughout all phases of the match and play the game in the Lymm half. In the first half they peppered Lymm with a series of long and deep, ‘up and unders’, to test their defences and keep Lymm pinned back in their half, with the challenge to attack from deep. Lymm coped with this quite well but too many handling errors started occurring, due to Wirral having a resolute and determined defence. The Wirral set piece scrum was rock solid and Lymm were always under pressure here.

However, the key element of their game plan was their use of the maul. This was not just used from 5m lineouts but cleverly used in open attacking play. Where possible, the ball carrier stayed on his feet in the tackle and with the ball secured, his supporting players drove him on, in a well controlled maul. They made a lot of ground with this technique. It is very difficult to defend against and the referee penalised Lymm continually for infringements at mauls. This meant that Lymm were desperately defending on the back foot for a lot of the match. So, a disappointing set back, following last week’s excellent come back and victory. It just wasn’t Lymm’s day but it is a long season.

“A poor day at the office” commented Coach Fletcher. “Too many errors and we didn’t match Wirral’s attitude and desire.

“Lots to work on this week, in preparation for the Blaydon match. We have to work in particular, on our ball retention techniques for multiple phases.

“On a positive note, a great win for our 2^nd team against Fylde 2^nd team. A fair number of the boys have put their hands up for 1^st team selection.”

Next week Lymm are at home to league new-comers – Blaydon. KO 3pm at Beechwood. Prior to the game there will be a one minute silence in memory of Gordon Kennedy, former club secretary. who died recently.

Teamsheet