Lymm beat Leeds Tykes in top-of-the-table thriller

Indeed, director of rugby Adam Fletcher says the Crouchley Lane crowd was “like he’d never seen or heard before” for a top-of-the-table clash with Leeds Tykes.

Both teams came into the game with perfect records, but it was Lymm who maintained theirs with a 30-26 victory to send them four points clear at the top of National League Two North.

And that was despite the absence of key fly-half Tom Shard, with centre Sam Wadsworth donning the number 10 jersey in his place to great effect, and prop Ralph McEachran.

“What a fantastic day for the club,” Fletcher regaled post-match.

“It was great to have the support from the M&J section – the guard of honour was epic.

“The rest of the senior squad was in attendance and made their voices heard. I've never seen or heard the club like that before.”

Having fallen behind to an early Leeds try, the Lymm response was excellent and having been allowed to turn the screw through some indiscipline from the visitors, they got a rolling maul working to send Rob Makin over for their first try.

Rob Makin scores Lymm's first try from a rolling maul (Image: John Cartwright) Then from the restart, they were over again after Wadsworth and Paddy Jennings combined to set Toby Wilson free. His kick on was spilled by a defender just short of the try line, allowing Wilson to regather and roll over to give the hosts the lead.

Wadsworth converted and then added a penalty to stretch the lead to 10 points, but Leeds responded with a second try of their own to close back up to within a score.

Once again, Lymm’s riposte was immediate as Jennings caught a clearing kick to find Wadsworth, who broke through numerous tackles to score a magnificent try.

Sam Wadsworth powers through the Leeds defence on his way to scoring (Image: John Cartwright) Just before the break, however, Leeds were able to move ominously to within a point of their hosts courtesy of a penalty try, which also resulted in a yellow card for Steve Pilkington.

That set up a tense second half, which was deadlocked until Wadsworth knocked over a penalty to give Lymm more comfort before the moment that turned out to be the match winner.

After a Leeds knock-on inside their own 22 gave them a chance, a lineout followed and the ball was worked to skipper Nathan Beesley, who dummied through the line and sprinted clear to score and seal not only the victory but a four-try bonus point.

Nathan Beesley touches down to wrap up Lymm's victory (Image: John Cartwright) Leeds were able to score again as time elapsed to ensure they left with a losing bonus point, but it was to be Lymm’s day.

 “We felt confident going into the match and believed our attack would cause Leeds problems,” Fletcher said.

“Our defence was physical and aggressive from the off and it kept knocking Leeds backwards.

“Tom Bray (defence coach) has taken the defence to another level this season and the boys are loving it. The coaches put together a great game plan and it came to fruition.”

“It was great to be involved in a top-of-the-table clash against Leeds – they are a class outfit with strike players all over the pitch.

“We're desperate to keep this run going and will have to be at our best again next week at Billingham.”

Lymm: Dan Hunter, Rob Makin, Matty Hand, Ben Thompson, Rhys Lilly, Seb Kelly, Josh Hadland, Oli Higginson; Cal Morris, Sam Wadsworth; Paddy Jennings, Toby Wilson, Steve Pilkington, Jack Stride, Nathan Beesley. Subs: Ben Lilley, James Pitcher, Samir Tahraoui, Harry Martin, Tom Manaton