Match Report by Simon Pickles. Photos from Rob Long.
The penultimate game in this season’s North Premier saw fifth-placed Lymm visit York. Barring a large reshuffle of teams and divisions, York and Lymm will not be affected by promotion or relegation. Lymm won this season’s reverse fixture in December, 28-12. York were missing some senior players but they have a deep squad and the absences provided opportunity. Lymm beat third-placed Blackburn handsomely last week. There was a fair wind on a cold, spring day at Clifton Park.

The first of many tries in this match went to Lymm after two minutes. A loose ball in centre-field was picked up and there was a clean offload to their fullback, Sam Wadsworth. He was clear and supported by the open-side flanker, Harry Martin who made the final pass to number four, Aaron Rasheed. Fly-half, Tom Shard is the goal-kicker for Lymm, he faded the conversion through the posts. Undeterred, York were well drilled and they developed attacking possession. Winger Sam Elliot scored in the corner. Liam Hessay, full-back, kicks goals for York, he missed his first one. Lymm winger, Nathan Beesley, was light on his feet and quick. He evaded a tackle and didn’t need the two supporting players on his inside. He extended the Lymm advantage with a try, the conversion was missed. The game was passing rapidly. York outside centre, George Davies, and prop forward, Eddie Westaby, both made important, solid tackles in central channels to halt Lymm attacks. Declan Cusack and Liam were kicking out-of-hand well, they were keeping Lymm away from the York twenty-two. York flanker, Will Kinnersley, made a line-break and offloaded to Declan. Scrum-half Toby Atkin was in support and he scored. Liam’s successful conversion levelled the scores. The scoreboard parity did not last. Lymm centre, Ste Pilkington, intercepted a York pass and it was a straight run-in for him. No problem with the conversion. Lymm quickly added more points. They kicked to the corner from an awarded penalty. After throwing the ball successfully into the line-out, Lymm hooker, Rob Makin, re-positioned himself. He received a return pass and scored in the corner. The conversion was very well-judged, over it went. The four tries conceded didn’t deter York. Declan passed flat to the second-row, Luke Stockton, who scored. The conversion was added with a great kick. Seven tries were scored in a fast-paced first half. Lymm were a converted try ahead, 19-26.

There was more aggression from both teams to begin the second half. York set-up an attacking line-out after advancing down the field through consecutive penalties. The experienced Lymm forward pack defended well and cleared though. Lymm then scored a long-range try. All of their back line were sharp and dangerous throughout the match. The conversion was good. York were two scores down but continued to attack. Declan kicked wide for Sam Elliot who collected well and released the second-row, Archie Fothergill, on his inside. Archie scored York’s bonus point try. The wind caught the conversion and it drifted wide. Another quick, long-range try from Lymm followed immediately from the restart. A super kick added the extra two points. Thirty minutes remaining and the score was York 24 Lymm 40. York again denied their defeat. A penalty put them in the Lymm corner. The line-out was imperfect but York retained possession. The Lymm goal-line defence could not stop Archie Fothergill from getting his second try of the game. Liam kicked a lovely conversion. There were frayed emotions from both teams. There was a melee and Archie received a red card. A few minutes later, Lymm centre, Ste Pilkington, got a yellow. Declan was injured and both teams took a couple of minutes to cool down. With ten minutes to go, George Davies scored after receiving a pass from Will Fordy. The conversion was missed but the Lymm lead was down to four points. A cool long-range penalty kick from Tom Shard put the Lymm lead to seven. After another break from Ross White, Liam Hessay scored for York in the corner. The conversion was wide. York were two points down.

The final whistle was so close. There was an intercept by a Lymm player but he was ruled offside and was penalised. York advanced to the Lymm twenty-two and won another penalty. It was kickable but not straight-forward. A miss. The final whistle went, York 41 Lymm 43.

Lymm scored forty-two points against a good Blackburn team last week. They can score heavily. York played really well to match their opponents, they kept their heads up and kept creating opportunities.

The final game for York this season is at home against league-leaders, Otley, on April 23rd.