ADAM Fletcher said his table-topping Lymm side threw away a chance of maximum points when they lost at home on Saturday.

The two bonus points from losing 36-32 at home to a Macclesfield side that touched down with the final play of the game were still enough to extend their lead at the summit to five points, due to title rivals Blackburn losing 22-14 at home to Sandbach.

But after turning round a half-time deficit of 21-12 to be leading 29-21 midway through the second half, director of rugby Adam Fletcher was disappointed that his troops ended up slipping to their third defeat of the campaign against a much improved seventh-placed Macc side.

“Really disappointed to lose with the final play of the game but in all honestly, Macc probably deserved it," said Fletcher.

"After 60 minutes, we were in control of the game and should have seen it out.

"There was a strange decision by the referee that swung the momentum towards Macc.

"We never got that momentum back and struggled to get a foothold.

"All credit to Macc – they took their chances under extreme pressure.

"On a positive note, we came away with two points and extended our lead at the top of the table. We now know what we need from the final games.”

Nathan Beesley bagged a brace of tries for Lymm, with the others being dotted down by Paddy Jennings and Scott Redfern.

Cormac Nolan converted three of the tries and landed two penalties.

A Nolan penalty from wide out late on looked like earning Lymm the win at 32-31.

But the winning Macc try came from a line break which left the Lymm defence scrambling.

A sure try was stopped by an outstanding James Kimber cover tackle but, from the resulting ruck, a Macc pick-and-go got the ball over the line as time expired.

Lymm (1-18): Gavin Woods, Rob Makin, Matty Hand, James Yates, Sam Dickenson, Ed Morris, Harry Saxton-Martin, Joe Watson, Callum Morris, Tom Shard, Paddy Jennings, Scott Redfern, James Kimber, Nathan Beesley, Cormac Nolan, Kieron O’Callaghan, Ali Sutherland, Ben Simpson.

Lymm are away to Stockport on Saturday, kick-off 2.15pm.