Sunday 7th March 2010
Away, West Park Leeds Festival
Drew 5-5 vs Vale of Lune, Won 5-0 vs Wetherby, Lost 5-0 vs Sandal
A good day out north of Leeds with Lymm being reintroduced to tournament and reminded of some of its lessons. Games are settled by small margins and the referee can be the key - don't get on his wrong side.
Lymm started slowly and let Vale come back for a draw with too many people playing individually. Unfortunately Tom Hemmings was lost to injury during the game, get well soon Tom. Try scored by Matt Barker capping off the best move of the game. Second game against Wetherby saw Lymm dominate with the team starting to warm up, good forward play from Paddy Jennings and Adam Griffiths kept the Wetherby maul under control and at flyhalf Aidan Ferrie kicked well exposing the poor positional play of the Wetherby full back. A Matt Barker try seemed to set Lymm on their way but the referee played a growing part as the game went on, seeing Lymm as infringing continually. Wetherby did not have the firepower to capitalise and the game ended at 5-0. With Sandal winning their opening 2 games, the final match was winner take all. Playing up hill in the first half Lymm defended stoutly and turned round at 0-0. The referee played an increasingly significant role as the game wore on repeatedly penalising Lymm and enabling Sandal to work their way up the pitch, eventually crashing over the Lymm line. Lymm responded and went close when Adam Griffiths crashed over but lost the ball at the crucial moment. With leniancy from the ref Sandal cleared and were allowed to chase down the kick having been clearly offside. When the final whistle went Lymm were left frustrated having not been allowed to find rhythm and having lost to a team that we felt we should have beaten.
Player of the day was Ralph Moretti-Walker who tackled, caught and ran at full back exceptionally well. Who would have guessed it was his debut at the position. Well done Ralph.
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Sunday 28th February 2010
Away vs Warrington
A team won 40-0, B team lost 20-10
Warrington fielded a big team including a couple of U13s and this showed in the early stages as the Warrington maul dominated play. Lymm took an early lead when Ross Walker crashed over from a melee near the Warrington line. Thereafter, Lymm's forwards showed their strength in the scrum and the backs started to create space with their kicking game and ball handling. These led to tries from Jonny Eagle and Matt Barker before the break. In the second half Lymm dominated as the whole team showed good hands, vision and support play, further tries from Matt Barker (another 3), James Norcott and Toby Walker rounding off good team moves.
The second game pitted Lymm's B's against the Warrington A team. An early score from Paddy Jennings gave Lymm a good start but as the game wore on the Warrington maul returned and allowed the Warrington forwards to run at the Lymm players. This led to four unanswered tries before Lymm rallied in the final minutes. A sweeping move through the hands led to a fantastic score for Tom Hemmings, unfortunately disallowed due to the final pass being forwards. From the resulting scrum Lymm won the ball and Toby Phillips rounded off a good captains performance with a score in the corner.
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Sunday 7th February 2010
Away vs Macclesfield
B team lost 25-0, A team drew 0-0
With Stoke arriving late and Chester B withdrawing, the 'quadangular' turned into a couple of 30 minute games, one each for the As and Bs.
The B team grew into the game but only after giving away a couple of early tries due to weak tackling. Good running from Ross McKinnon and Kieran McCormack helped put pressure on the Macclesfield team. In the second half Lymm strengthened further with Craig Clarke showing up in the loose and Vishnu Maharaj showing good hands to keep the ball live. A final Macclesfield try was most memorable for Joe Peploe flattening the Macclesfield centre just as he passed for the winger to score. A sign of things to come......
On to the A team, with Lymm having a crisis at scrum half through to unavailability and injury. Alistair Wealthall stepped in, even though he had spent the previous hour being sick. Macclesfield parents were already predicting an easy win for their team, unfortunately nobody had told Lymm. From the start Lymm pressured every Macclesfield player with the midfield of Jonny Eagle, Aiden Ferrie and Matt Barker closing down the Macclesfield backs on every occasion. In the forwards, Macclesfield found themselves in a fight and Lymm, led by Alex McMahon contested every ball. Ross Walker and Adam Griffiths put in numerous tackles and helped wear Macclesfield down. As the second half wore on, Macclesfield seemed to run out of ideas and Lymm gained more confidence putting more attacking moves together. By the final whistle, a draw was a fair result, however, Lymm will look forward to the next time the teams meet.
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Sunday 31st January 2010
Away vs Caldy
A team drew 21-21, B team lost 40-10
Lymm A bounced back from last week's poor outing with a keenly fought draw against Caldy. With never more than one try in the match throughout, Lymm were unlucky not to run out winners with all three Caldy trys being a pile up of bodies over the line where the ref judged a Caldy hand was the important one. Lymm started slowly with Caldy camping in the Lymm half, but Lymm looked comfortabe in defence. Lymm forward power took over and a move through the forwards led to Alex McMahon crashing over. With Lymm being constantly penalised, Caldy gained good field position and scored a try either side of the first interval. In the final third of the match Lymm scored quickly when Paddy Jennings stole a Caldy line out and crashed over. Then from a scrum in midfield Lymm worked a smart back move putting Matt Barker away down the blindside and in for the best try of the match. With a few minutes to go, Caldy again had good field position from penalties and a tap penalty led to their third score. A draw was the fairest outcome but a high penalty count held back Lymm's flow.
In the B team game Caldy had some big players who the Lymm team struggled to cope with. This enabled them to dominate but Lymm kept pressure on the Caldy team with Aaron King and Craig Clarke sticking to the task. Josh Nolan and Ross Walker tackled well throughout the game and scores from Josh Nolan and Josh Rowe gave Lymm some reward for their efforts.
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Sunday 24th January 2010
Away vs Chester
A team lost 17-0, B team lost 28-0
The first game since the big freeze and the rustiness really showed. Chester were up for the game following the last meeting of the clubs in the final of the Manchester tournament. The A team started very slowly and Chester were quickly 2 tries up with Lymm missing tackles on the wing. Throughout the first half Chester were quicker to claim the 50:50 balls and were unlucky not to be further ahead at the break. Once Chester had scored early in the second half, again through missed tackles Lymm switched on and it became a different game with Alex McMahon showing up in the loose. Despite pressuring the Chester line for the last 10 minutes, Lymm couldn't score and finished with no points. Special mention to Matt Barker who led all the good things that Lymm did.
In the B team game Lymm competed throughout, but Chester's B's had some good players in the backs and Lymm were on the backfoot for a lot of the match. Kieran McCormick and Josh Nolan led the tackling count and ran strongly when given the chance. Vishnu Maharaj had a strong impact when we came on for the second half and the forwards were competitive with his help.
Lots to reflect on before next week's match against Caldy.
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Sunday 13th December 2009
Away vs Sefton
A team won 40-0, B team lost 7-35
After 2 weeks of no matches due to waterlogged pitches, this match was in danger because of frozen ground. However, a bit of sun and we were OK. Lymm started quickly and dominated Sefton in the first half scoring 4 tries through Paddy Jennings, Toby Phillips, Alex McMahon and Ralph Moretti-Walker. All a result of good teamwork and good handling. In the second half Sefton stepped up a gear and played an effective mauling game, slowing down the Lymm play. Once Lymm got into open play, they had the upper hand and scored a further two tries through Alistair Wealthall and Ralph Moretti-Walker in for his second. Five conversions out of six gave a final score of 40-0. A strong performance given that several key players were unavailable through injury. Special mention for Kieran McCormick who put in a solid performance at full back.
In the second match, Sefton's mauling became a bigger feature and they dominated possession through it, eventually scoring from close range. This kicked Lymm into life and they came close on several occasions with George Davidson and Tom Hemmings prominent. Toby Phillips ran in the equalising score from a kick return. 7-7 at half time. In the second half Lymm started missing tackles and Sefton's backs gained confidence running in 4 tries in the last few minutes.
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Sunday 22nd November 2009
Home vs Waterloo
A team won 31-7, B team lost 0-28
A wet and heavy pitch was not ideal conditions to face a Waterloo team known for their forward play. Lymm for the first time this season had a choice of a nearly full squad. The 'A' match started slowly with the wet ball causing errors on both sides. Lymm's scrum showed its strength early on and set the scene for Waterloo to find themselves being dominated upfront. Not something they were used to, nor enjoyed. Vigorous coaching by Waterloo from the sidelines couldn't help their team. Tries from Paddy Jennings and Alex McMahon in the first quarter gave Lymm the edge at half time 14-7. The second quarter saw Lymm stretch further away with further tries from Ross Walker, James Norcott and Matt Barker. With Lymm by now dominating the forward contest the match was called to an early end. Special mention to Ralph Moretti-Walker at scrum half and solid back play from Jonny Eagle and Aiden Ferrie under intense pressure throughout the game from the Waterloo backline.
With Lymm having 25 players to choose from a full change of personnel for the start of the second game. Waterloo, by now fully warmed up started aggressively and scored two quick tries. Lymm then started to compete much more strongly with good tackling from Tom Hemmings and Tom O'Neill. Lymm came close through Paddy Jennings and good aggressive running from George Davidson and Joe Peploe. Finlay Eaton also showing in the loose. In the second half Waterloo put back on their 'A' team players and Lymm resisted strongly with the game threatening to become too overphysical. A try with the last play of the game saw Waterloo run out 28-0 winners, but the Lymm team put up a good show in difficult conditions. Well done to all.
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Sunday 8th November 2009
Away vs Manchester
Won 28-7
The team's first outing on a full size pitch and with the wet conditions a real challenge for the players on show. 11 players not available made selection fairly easy, but also an opportunity for people to try out different positions. The first third saw some slick handling with Alex McMahon at full back and Tom Hemmings at centre catching the eye. A try from Joe Peploe was good reward for the team's efforts. Changes of personnel and positions helped make the second third more evenly matched, although Lymm spent much of it camped on the Manchester line, unfortunately a severe case of white line fever ensued before Manchester could clear. A return to the Manchester line eventually led to Craig Clarke crashing over for his first try for the club. Some poor tackling late in the period gave Manchester a try and refocussed everyone's mind. The final third was all Lymm with the pack switching up a gear and pushing the opposition off their ball in the scrum. A fine dummy from Toby Phillips at scrum half opened up the Manchester defence for him to score unopposed. Alistair Weathall ran the ball back into the Manchester half from the restart and the pressure returned. When Paddy Jennings got a clear charge on a small Manchester back there was only one winner, with Paddy running over him and touching down for a final score. A victory slide after the final whistle from the players in the wettest part of the pitch made sure all washing machines would be in full use when the boys got home.
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Sunday 25th October 2009
Home, vs Northwich
Won 45-0
An opportunity for all the squad to get back together following the heady performances at Manchester last week and an opportunity for some of the newer players to get some game time and try out new positions for people. Half term took its toll with 11 players away or injured. However, still a strong team and with 3 newcomers Ralph, Tom and Josh. Northwich arrived with 12 players and were visibly tiring as the game wore on. Some good rugby throughout capped with a fine closing try from a Toby Phillips break with Toby Walker scoring with a classic 2 on 1 finish.
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Sunday 18th October 2009
Manchester Tournament
Scores
V
V AK 3-0
V
Team: Alistair Wealthall, James Norcott, Toby Phillips (c), Toby Walker, Liam Walker, Ross Walker, Vishnu Maharaj, Adam Griffiths, Tom Hemmings, Joe Peploe, Jonny Eagle, Matt Barker, Aiden Ferrie, Ross McKinnon, Kieran McCormack, Josh Nolan
We have recently been awarded the Sport England/R.F.U. Seal of approval recognising that the club is safe, effective and child friendly.