LYMM Rugby Club's second XV were defeated 38-17 at Preston Grasshoppers on Saturday.

Set-piece dominance was not enough for Lymm in the NOWIRUL Cotton Traders Premier League clash on a day when player numbers were depleted.

Nick Ashton travelled by train from Milton Keynes and Ryan Brown gave up his ticket to watch the Rugby League World Cup Final to ensure Lymm could field a team.

Lymm handed a senior debut to current colt Alex Mukherjee, playing out of position at full back, but he went on to have an excellent game.

And generally Lymm's younger squad members should take some belief and confidence after seeing what they can do when they build phases against strong outfits such as Preston.

Strong counter attacking and broken field running by Preston midway through the first half proving a difficult task for Lymm to contain.

A quick succession of tries resulted as Lymm failed to deal with a loose ball and Preston executed some neat blindside handling.

Lymm hit back though.

Mukherjee chimed into the line and threaded a well-timed pass to the onrushing James Pitcher who bisected the initial defenders and fended away the Preston sweeper before outsprinting the chasing back three to score.

This Lymm resurgence was short-lived as Preston notched up further tries of their own to lead 24-7 at the interval.

The second stanza was a much closer affair with each side scoring two tries.

Quinn Peers, Pitcher and Gavin Down worked tirelessly carrying the ball in the close quarters, with Sohail Kakaie and Ryan Brown carrying accurately off the line-out platform.

This foundation allowed Lymm to develop their two-layered attack and half-back brothers James and George Anderson were able to create ball and space opportunities for Mukherjee and fellow debutant MacDonald to make inroads behind the Preston wall.

Solid defensive shifts and a series of penalties rewarded the aggressive Lymm pack for scrummaging straight and true, and from one five-metre attacking lineout Pitcher steered the maul over the line for five points.

After battering away at the Preston line without joy, James Anderson placed an outstanding cross-field kick into the arms of Alex Mukherjee for Lymm's concluding try.

This Saturday the Lymm first XV are at home to Manchester, kick-off 3pm, and the thirds are away to Liverpool Medical School.

Lymm: Gavin Woods, James Pitcher, Nick Ashton, Sohail Kakaie, Gavin Down, Quinn Peers, Titus Jones, Ed Morris, James Anderson, George Anderson, Ash Freeman, Ed Dobbs, Ryan Brown, Jorge Reynolds, Alex Mukherjee. Replacements: Joe MacDonald