LYMM Rugby Club’s wait for a first National League victory goes on, but Adam Fletcher insisted he remained “extremely proud” of his side.

After narrow home defeats to Wharfedale and Huddersfield to kick off their first ever Step Four season, the Crouchley Lane men hit the road for the first time this season on Saturday as they visited unbeaten Rotherham Titans.

The Yorkshiremen, who spent two seasons in English rugby union’s top flight back in the early 2000s, ran out 33-10 victors as their strong set-piece game came to the fore.

Callum Morris did at least ensure Lymm had the final word with their only try of the game, with Cormac Nolan adding the conversion to go with his earlier penalty, and Fletcher says there is plenty to build on for his side.

“I’m extremely proud of how we attacked the challenge,” he said.

“Rotherham were very strong at the set piece and had some strong ball carriers but I thought that, for the majority of the game, we stood up to the test.

“We do need to improve our accuracy especially after a transition, and to keep hold of the ball better so forcing teams to defend us for longer periods.

“It wasn't the result we wanted, but the boys are positive going into next week.”

Rotherham scrum-half Jean-Baptiste Bruzulier jinked through the Lymm defence to open the scoring after 12 minutes and while Nolan’s penalty initially cut the deficit to four points, further tries from Zak Poole and Reece Ward had the hosts 19-3 ahead at the break.

Bruzulier set up winger Dan Rundle to secure a bonus point for Rotherham just after the break and when Laurence Cowan touched down to take the score to 33-3, the signs looked ominous for the visitors.

However, they were rewarded for their efforts in the final quarter when several attacking phases led to Morris dummying his way over the whitewash from 10 metres out.

They were then denied another try after a flowing move from inside their own half involving Tom Shard and Jack Reynolds looked set to put Joe Senior over, but the ball was dislodged from his grasp by the last defender.

Fletcher’s side are back at Crouchley Lane on Saturday as they host Tynedale, kick off 3pm.

Lymm: Gav Woods, James Pitcher, Matty Hand, James Yates, Ali Sutherland, Sean Callender, Josh Hadland, Rhys Lilly; Callum Morris, Jack Reynolds; Paddy Jennings, Ste Pilkington, James Kimber, Joe Senior, Cormac Nolan. Subs: Joe Higgins, Jordan Widdrington, Alex Steward, Tom Shard, Jack Stride

Back at Crouchley Lane, Lymm’s third team were beaten at home for the first time in over a year as they went down 42-26 to Bowdon’s second XV.

The match was officially classed as a friendly following a difficult lead-up to the game in which Lymm made the decision to concede their second-team match at Caldy as they struggled to put a team together.

However, league rules state that as Lymm did not honour their second-team fixture, the third-team game also went down as a concession so the league points were heading to Bowdon regardless.

Nevertheless, the two sides served up an entertaining affair as Rick McEvoy’s double and further tries from Max Ure and Josh McKean had Lymm 26-14 up.

However, the visitors then stepped things up and scored 28 unanswered points either side of half time to take the victory.

Lymm: Olly Brown, Will Higgins, David Coon, Jez Ure, Max Ure, Ben Polec, Jim France, Ben Lloyd; Simon Beards, Alan Reddecliff; Josh McKean, Reece Forrest, Rick McEvoy, Stu Norman, Oli Larkin. Subs: Aldin Zillic, George Smith, Mike Clarke, George Morton, Chris Kinsey