Ilkley 20 Lymm 18

DESPITE a rousing second-half fightback, Lymm could not quite finish the job at Ilkley on Saturday.

They went into the second half trailing 17-3 but were leading inside the final 10 minutes until a late penalty secured the points for the home side.

Luke Richards and Gavin Woods crossed for Lymm tries, with Cormac Nolan adding a conversion and two penalties as the visitors returned to Cheshire with a losing bonus point.

With his side 17-3 down at the interval, head coach Adam Fletcher conceded Lymm left themselves with too much of a mountain to climb in the second half but insists they are heading in the right direction.

“We showed some real character in the second half to get back into the game and scored two well-executed tries,” he said.

“Unfortunately, our defence in the first half was nowhere near up to the standard of this league.

“This time last season, we had the best defensive record in the league.

“On the positive side, we are moving in the right direction and slowly getting injured players back fit and in training.”

Nolan’s early penalty brought about Lymm’s only points of the first half as Ilkley ran in three tries to take full control.

However, another Nolan penalty sparked a Lymm fightback and after Richards had reached out to score in the corner, Richard Halford broke and found Gavin Woods in support to cross, with Nolan’s conversion giving the visitors an unlikely lead.

Sadly, though, Ilkley were awarded a penalty shortly after and it was converted to give them the victory.

Lymm are currently 11th in the Northern Premier and travel to Harrogate on Saturday, kick off 2.15pm.

Lymm: Gavin Woods, Cashel Chilvers, Matty Hands, Matty Connelly, Zak Lythgoe, James Pitcher, Aaron Rasheed, Adam Bray; Tom Shard, Scott Redfern; Luke Richards, Ben Stansfield, James Kimber, Richard Halford, Cormac Nolan. Subs: Jordan Widdrington, Ali Sutherland, Joe Senior.

Lymm 2nd 0 Chester 2nd 48

LYMM’S much-changed second team featured several players who had to play out of position, and it showed against a dominant Chester side.

The team welcomed back several players who had not featured this season, but after a decent start they quickly found themselves way behind a well-drilled visiting outfit.

Lymm were not helping themselves with poor discipline and some disorganised defence, and Chester took full advantage.

They ran out comfortable victors and Lymm must now wait until December 8 for their next game when they host Vale of Lune’s seconds.

Lymm: N Ashton, R Makin, K O'Callaghan, W Baldwin, J Long, R Lilley, J Porteus, H Baldwin; H Simpson, T Baker; J Hamer, J Reynolds, R Riddell, R Forrest, O Thornton. Subs: J Harper, S Fisher, A Halford