Lymm find South too tough to handle

Lymm paid their first ever visit to Welford Road in this latest game of N3M.
A pleasant afternoon’s weather and a fine pitch provided the backdrop, but unfortunately for the visitors, South were in no mood to be turned over.
Sean Brundle and George Ord made their seasonal debuts with Luke Coltman returning and Andy Gates starting at 13.

South, unusually, started with a bang scoring their first try after only three minutes. A fumbled catch receive from the Lymm left wing resulted in the first of many powerful South scrummages that had the visitors in all sort of trouble throughout the game. From the resultant possession a Lee Robinson incursion through the middle of the Lymm defence saw Andy Gates touchdown under the posts. Mark Lord landed the conversion, added a straightforward penalty soon after and his own try from a Robinson tap down as Lymm were again undone under the high ball. Unfortunately Lord’s conversion went narrowly wide.
Fifteen points up in twelve minutes South then went to sleep allowing the visitors to settle down and get into the game, even though most of their possession was achieved on the back foot. Lymm missed a penalty and then scored a long range interception try from a fumbled South attack. The attempted conversion was again pulled wide.
Lee Robinson made his mark in the latter part of the half with a number of bullocking runs off first phase ball as Lymm were under the cosh at both scrum and lineout. He scored South’s third touchdown just before the interval, routinely converted by Lord, for South to be in the ascendancy by 22 points to 5 at half time.

Robinson retired at half time for Dave Weston to take his place on the wing and almost immediately he added South’s bonus point gaining fourth try again converted by Lord.
Gareth Kerr injured his hamstring although a raft of tactical changes didn’t upset the South momentum as they continued to destroy Lymm at scrum time. It was also good to see referee Claire Hodnett reward the dominant scrum in her decision making, something that has been sadly lacking from her colleagues in previous games this season. Any penalties awarded to South were immediately re scrummaged and Lymm endured a torrid time.
South ran riot with the guaranteed possession with Gates adding two more tries in quick time, both from subtle chip kicks from Ricky Aley, both converted by Lord. Dave Weston did the running to put Chris Bale in for South’s seventh try while adding his second from long range for South’s eighth. Lord converted the latter touchdown.
In injury time Lymm scored their second try which was converted although South had the last laugh as Will Ward was the recriprient of a quickly taken lineout and strolled in under the posts. Lord again routinely converted putting the ball between the posts and into the trees as the final whistle sounded.

It was a fine display from South in all departments. The tight five of Keiran Stone, Coltman, Rhod McNaughton, Stu Bale and Will Ward aided by replacements George Ord and Jack Owens absolutely destroyed the visitors pack. Probably the best piece of concerted forward power since South’s dominance at Sutton Coldfield last season.
Aley and Lord provided the direction while Harry Owens, Gates, Weston and Robinson routinely opened up and ran through the visitors defence.

A job well done – more of the same, please, at Newport next week.

Squad: Graney, Robinson (Ord), Owens H, Gates, Kerr (Weston), Lord, Aley, Bale C, Johnson, Brundle, Ward, Bale S, McNaughton, Coltman © (Owens J), Stone.

Highlights:

22 points from Mark Lord, three tries from Andy Gates, two from Dave Weston and promising debuts from Sean Brundle and George Ord.