Huddersfield YMCA 15 Lymm 15 Report by Jim Knowles
AFTER the Rugby Union World Cup weekend when there was no league action, it was anticipated that both teams would have benefited by being refreshed and perhaps inspired by the performance of the all-conquering All Blacks.
Huddersfield (HY) were still smarting from an 80 – 3 drubbing from their previous game at Sheffield Tigers, the league leaders. Lymm in contrast were entitled to a degree of cautious optimism having just beaten Waterloo 9 – 6, currently occupying second place in League National 3 North.
The top quality HY floodlights allowed for a 3pm kick off whilst clubs lacking such luxuries are now required to start at 2.15.Persistent squally rain showers swept down the pitch into the faces of the Lymm team as they kicked off whilst the spectators were happy to huddle into the shelter of their host’s large modern grandstand.
In the first few minutes Lymm were dominant with Jake Ashall making two line breaks to initiate the visitor’s first attacks. The reward was a penalty attempt into the wind by Richard McEvoy which just drifted wide. Centre Tom Bray made a break which set up the next attack but this faltered due to handling errors, the first of many to become a feature of the afternoon for both teams.
After seven minutes HY got into the Lymm half but the defence was solid and forced a knock on. Then, the first scrum of the match foretold difficulties that Lymm were to endure throughout the remainder of the first half when they were driven backwards and off the ball despite having the advantage of the feed.
Fortunately pressure was relieved by driving the HY winger into touch and Lymm then showed their line out superiority with Alex Kaihau prominent as both catcher and strategist. This gave Tom Bray the chance to cross the gain line and McEvoy’s kick and chase deep into HY territory brought a penalty.
Believing in the strength of their line out Lymm opted for the kick to touch in the corner then a catch and driving maul but this was spoiled by an overzealous Lymm player joining the maul from the side giving HY a relieving penalty.
The pattern of play was now established. HY won the scrums Lymm won the line outs and in testing weather conditions both teams made handling errors. Lymm’s defence was sound to the extent that it was often an advantage to Lymm when HY tried to run the ball out wide. There were rare moments when a bit of individual flare lit up the gloom that descended on the game despite the floodlights. One such moment was a good carry by Ashall crossing the gain line to set up a promising attack, but yet again, spoiled by another careless mistake and penalty to HY.
Lymm were then reduced to fourteen men when Zac Lythgoe was given a yellow card for a foul tackle. This made scrummaging problems even more acute but despite their numerical advantage HY posed little threat from their greater amount of possession. This was largely attributable to Lymm’s determined defence. With five minutes left before half time and Lymm back to full strength HY gained a penalty and from an easy position kicked for goal and a three point lead. Dan Horton was replaced by Mike Auden in the front row but nothing happened to excite a good crowd of spectators before, some might say, the half was brought mercifully to a close.
Within a few minutes of the restart HY gained possession from a turn over following, at last, a much better Lymm scrum. Their attack directed towards the right side corner was well defended but they kept possession and the HY fly half astutely put in a high kick to the left corner to give his winger an unopposed try. Fortunately for Lymm it was too wide out in the face of the elements for any chance of adding the conversion. (8 – 0)
Lymm responded by gaining near parity at the scrums, being a bit sharper at the rucks and retaining their good quality line out work. More possession tested HY to the extent that they had a forward given a yellow card and Lymm were awarded a comfortable penalty for McEvoy to put his team on the scoreboard (8 – 3). The game continued to be error strewn but Lymm appeared to have the edge with more possession. A good carry by skipper, Adam Bray, set up Ollie Lancaster to sprint through a gap and get a try in a relatively easy position for McEvoy to add the conversion. (8 – 10)
Lymm were now looking a better bet for that much needed away win but both teams continued to play in a largely uninspired, undisciplined and erratic manner. With ten minutes remaining McEvoy produced an enormously long kick from his own half. The ball flew close and parallel to the touch line heading for the HY ‘in goal’ area. The leading chaser was Richard Halford whose long legs give him a deceptive turn of speed. The worry was whether the ball would run dead? No there was a more than generous in goal area. Who would win the race, the covering defenders? At the end of a sixty yard sprint Richard calmly dotted the ball down for a try, sensibly opting not to attempt running nearer to the posts leaving McEvoy with a too difficult kick but (8 – 15) made that away win look an almost certain prospect. Ollie Higginson not long after entering the fray received a yellow card with less than five minutes remaining.
Further Lymm indiscipline helped HY to establish themselves close to the Lymm line and after a succession of scrums and mauls they scored the inevitable try close to the Lymm posts leaving it easy for the last kick of the game to secure a draw.
The final verdict from both sets of supporters, players and coaches was that a draw was a fair result. Most agreed that it was a dull game relieved only by HY’s inspired first try and the Richard Halford chase. It made his dad, Tony, a proud man after watching his son for a full game when playing for the First Team.
Team:
1) Dan Horton, 2) Ross White, 3) Nick Ashton, 4) Zak Lythgoe, 5) Alex Kaihau, 6) Jack Harper, 7) Jake Ashall, 8) Adam Bray ©, 9) Chris Owen, 10) Ollie Lancaster, 11) Richard Halford, 12) Tom Bray, 13) Giles Dugdale, 14) Richard McEvoy, 15) Joe Knowles, 16) Mike Auden, 17) Mark Wells, 18) Ollie Higginson
