Sheffield Tigers 42 Lymm 22

LYMM fought hard but went down to defeat against National League Three North leaders Sheffield Tigers on Saturday.

Having scored the first try of the game early on, the visitors were very much in contention at half time before the Tigers cantered away in the second half with 14 unanswered points.

Lymm battled until the end and will now see their forthcoming home games as a chance to close the gap on the division’s top three sides.

In blustery conditions in South Yorkshire, the visitors made the better start and went over when Ollie Higginson strolled through a huge gap.

However, this served only to spark the league leaders into action and converted tries from Mark Ireland and Henri Packard saw them storm into the lead.

Lymm remained patient though and were able to capitalise on a period of pressure when centre Rick Halford crossed, with winger Cormac Nolan converting to bring the score back to 14-12.

Ryan Holmes then crashed over for the hosts before a Nolan penalty kept Lymm in touch at the break, but the Tigers bore their teeth after the interval to take the game away from the visitors.

Ireland edged over from five metres for his second try following a powerful Tigers scrum before a further try from Jamie Broadley extended the lead to 20 points.

The visitors showed admirable character and, after a few positional changes, got their first points of the second half when substitute Aaron Rasheed pounced on a clever chip by Mark Dixon to score.

However, the hosts had the last word and their pacy backline eventually set up Lee Monks to cross and push the Tigers past the 40-point mark.

Lymm will have a chance to get back on track in their home game against mid-table Stockport on Saturday, April 2.