LYMM Rugby Club have confirmed they will appeal a decision that has seen three points taken off their third team.

League bosses have backed up a complaint from Northwich’s second team that Lymm fielded first-teamers in their unexpected win on January 30 and scratched the points.

It was Northwich’s first reverse since September and only Lymm’s second win of the season.

“We want to deter clubs from following similar actions,” said North West Intermediate League secretary Reg Robinson after the committee took the unprecedented step of naming the perpetrators on the competition’s official website.

Lymm won the Miller Homes Division Three West encounter 38-24, finally converting the potential they have been showing into points while ending the league leaders’ 11-match winning streak.

A league statement said: “The Rules Committee have looked at all the evidence brought forward from Northwich and also other evidence gathered themselves.

“They have decided that Lymm contravened Rule 13 with regard to loading the third team.”

It added that three first-team regulars had been named in Lymm’s starting line-up.

Lymm had not issued any comment at the time of going to press.

The third string were defeated 31-25 at home to Crewe and Nantwich at the weekend, with first-half errors costing them back-to-back wins.

Captain David Coon said: “Fifteen minutes of quality rugby at the end of the game was not quite enough to cancel out some earlier errors.

“If we can start and sustain a performance for 80 minutes, then more wins will come and we can upset a few more of the teams in this league and move off the bottom of the table.”

Good efforts from workhorse prop Overs and the Lymm forwards made tries for Henderson, Dugdale, Connelly and Higgins cut the deficit from 31-3.

Lymm: Jim Fergusson, Rob Pawsey, Andy Overs, Dave Higgins, Rob Gilmore, Phil Freaney, Matt Connelly, Jack Quayle, Martin Henderson, Chris Horn, Tom Lord, John Millachip, Ben Hinton, Craig Woolvine, Callum Morgan, Subs: David Coon (C), Phil Turner, Dave Reed, Giles Dugdale.

Lymm’s second string defeated Penrith 34-0 with a hat-trick of tries from teenager Emmitt and two from Fletcher.