LYMM’S winning run was brought to an end on Saturday as they fell to another high-flying side.

Director of rugby Adam Fletcher took his second-placed side to Rossendale – the team immediately behind them – looking to record a seventh straight victory.

However, they returned having lost 36-14 as a nightmare end to the first half in which they conceded three tries in five minutes proved too much to rebound from.

Brothers Ben and Alfie Simpson scored Lymm’s tries, with Cormac Nolan converting both as they returned from Lancashire empty-handed.

They remain second in the Regional One North West table, but leaders Blackburn are now seven points ahead of them while Rossendale are now just two points behind.

Lymm welcome Sandbach to Beechwood for their next game on Saturday and Fletcher is keen to see his side put things right.

“It was a tough day at Marl Pits,” he said.

“We started slowly and never really recovered. At 8-7 the game was in the balance but the intercept try was crucial.

“We’re disappointed as we feel like we gifted them three tries rather than them playing particularly well.

“Our set piece didn’t function well and our error count was too high.

“The boys have already started to reflect on the game and are keen to work hard this week to put things right.”

After Rossendale had moved into an 8-0 lead through a penalty and an unconverted try, Lymm got on the board when a good scrum move led to Nathan Beesley kicking through for Alfie Simpson to outpace the covering defence and touch down.

With the visitors pushing for a score to take them in front, however, a loose pass was intercepted by the home winger and he ran the length of the field for a converted try.

Rossendale then added two more tries without Lymm touching the ball and they found themselves 29-7 ahead at the break.

Lymm failed to seriously test the home defence in the second half until Ben Simpson’s quick-tap penalty got him over the line to raise hopes of gaining a losing bonus point.

However, it was not to be as Rossendale capped their fine day off with another intercept try.

Team: Gavin Woods, Rob Makin, Matty Hand, Joe Watson, Sam Dickenson, Ali Sutherland, Ed Morris, Rhys Lilly; Ben Simpson, Tom Shard; Alfie Simpson, Scott Redfern, Paddy Jennings, Nathan Beesley, Cormac Nolan. Subs: Nick Ashton, James Pitcher, Samir Tahraoui

Back at Beechwood, the seconds and thirds were having a much better time of things.

The seconds produced a storming fightback to beat their Rossendale counterparts in a high-scoring thriller, coming from 40-20 down to score 28 unanswered points and win 48-40.

The thirds’ ninth straight win was much more clear-cut as Burnage were beaten 36-10.