Lymm edged by league's pace setters Sandal

LYMM were beaten by table-toppers Sandal in a well-contested battle on Saturday.

Lymm started brightly, taking an early lead when Tom Bray darted through a gap in the Sandal defence before feeding Luke Emmitt.

He put in Cormac Nolan, who converted his own try.

Sandal responded when they drove through from a couple of metres out for a score.

This was converted by Mark Pease, which made it 7-7.

From the restart Lymm edged ahead again thanks to a penalty from close to the halfway line.

Sandal responded however, notching a penalty of their own, before Nolan crossed the whitewash in the corner.

He added the extras, leaving Lymm seven points clear.

Sandal increasingly targeted the Lymm right flank, and launched most of their attacks down that side.

A series of rucks in the centre of the field, 10 metres from the try line, drew out Lymm’s defence before the ball was shuffled again to the right for a try.

A missed conversion followed.

But on the stroke of half time the hosts squeezed in front at 18-17 when a penalty from long range was converted.

Sandal started the second half strongly too, adding to that advantage almost immediately from the kick-off with a converted try.

It was Lymm’s turn to hit back, and the ball was moved cleanly through hands for Rick Halford to touch down a maiden score for the first team.

Sandal at last established a lead, moving nine points clear to settle the outcome when they scored a pushover try following a string of scrums.

A penalty completed the scoring for the day.

Lymm pressed until the final whistle, moving the ball across Sandal’s line, but Nolan’s last-gasp kick through for Andy Rowley skidded into touch.

Lymm travel to Burnage on Saturday, when they will look to close the gap to a team two places above them in the table.

Lymm: Auden, Bray, Widdrington, Kahui, Darbyshire, White, Williams, Mullarkey, Shard, Bray, Rowley, Emmitt, Halford, Nolan, Knowles. Replacements: Ashall, Baker, Cooper.