Northwich 12 Lymm 40

LYMM kicked off the new season in fine style with a comfortable victory over Northwich in the Cheshire Vase.

After a tight first half, the Crouchley Lane outfit’s superior fitness and experience proved telling in the second period.

Richard McEvoy crossed twice before the break as Adam Fletcher’s side went into the interval with a 14-7 advantage.

Lymm hit the accelerator after the break, with Andy Davies, Sam Mullarkey, Adam Bray and Rob Makin getting over the whitewash.

Full-back Cormac Nolan was in good form with the boot, kicking five successful conversions from six attempts.

The sides swapped tries early on before McEvoy finished off Davies’ fine break to give Lymm a half-time lead.

Northwich got the first score of the second half to bring them to within two points of the lead, but that was as good as it got for the hosts.

The power of Lymm’s runners came to the fore and that, combined with skilful combinations, resulted in 26 unanswered points to seal their place in the next round.

Fletcher’s men kick off their North Premier campaign, their eighth straight season at that level, on Saturday when they travel to Morley, kick off 3pm.

Lymm: Gavin Woods, Rob Makin, Kieran O’Callaghan, Joe Watson, Adam Bray, Ross White, Ali Sutherland, Sam Mullarkey; Andy Davies, Scott Redfern; Lucas Titherington, Tom Bray, James Kimber, Richard McEvoy, Cormac Nolan. Subs: John Millington, Alex Stewart, Tom Shard, James Robinson, Will Titherington.

Chester u23 17 Lymm u23 21

DESPITE having only 15 players in their squad, Lymm’s under 23s dominated their Chester counterparts from the outset.

Rory Riddell, James Pitcher and Luke Critchley scored tries as Lymm held on despite the hosts utilising their 25-man squad to bring on fresh legs.

Eccles 10 Warrington 60

ANDY Roberts says his Warrington side have given him plenty of selection headaches ahead of the new season.

This comes after his side marched confidently into the Lancashire Trophy semi finals with an eight-try thrashing of Eccles.

Warrington travel to the Isle of Man to face Douglas in their opening North One West fixture on Saturday, kick off 3pm, and Roberts admits it will be difficult for him to pick a side.

However, he says having so many players in good form is a nice problem to have.

“It was an excellent result for us at Eccles,” he said.

“When I add the performances in this game to those in our two pre-season trials, I can see that we may have selection problems.

“There is real competition for places in every position, but they are nice problems to have.”

Kieran Hughes, returning from a year-long absence, ran in an early brace to get Warrington off to a good start before Paul Thompson joined him on the scoresheet before the break.

Hughes completed his treble in the second half to go with two tries for Max Caldwell and one each for Jamie Thompson and Zak Lythgoe to round off the win.