WITH the league title safely in the trophy cabinet, Lymm Rugby Club’s first XV now turn their attention to the road to Twickenham.

This weekend sees them play their first game in the Papa John’s Championship Cup – a tournament for sides finishing in the top four of Regional RFU Level Five leagues – as they travel to Bromsgrove on Saturday.

The 16-team competition is split into four pools, with the winners of each group advancing to the semi-finals and playing for the chance to appear in the Twickenham final on Sunday, April 30.

After this weekend’s opener, Lymm host their Regional One North West title rivals Blackburn at Beechwood on April 8 before wrapping up the pool stage with a trip to Halifax-based Heath a week later.

The club are putting on a coach for players and spectators to Bromsgrove – details to follow on the club website.

Elsewhere, Warrington RUFC finished their season on a high by beating Southport 32-24 at Stockton Lane.

It meant their campaign ended with three consecutive victories as they finished the season fifth in the Counties One Lancashire and Cheshire table.

For much of the game, however, Southport were in the lead – the visitors were 12-10 in front at the break with Jack Rigby and Sam Rehill crossing for the hosts in the first half.

They fell further behind after the break but tries from Fielding and Max Caldwell plus three goals from Matt Beeley allowed them to take a 27-17 lead that proved decisive and secure a four-try bonus point.

Daffyd Floyd completed their scoring late on, with Southport salvaging a bonus point of their own with a fourth try shortly afterwards.

Meanwhile, Lymm’s seconds were beaten 35-21 at Sedgeley Park in a rearranged fixture at the weekend.

They had taken an early lead as Jorge Reynolds finished a back line handling move, but the hosts added four tries in response to take a 28-8 lead at half time, with James Anderson kicking a penalty goal for Lymm in response.

Anderson then kicked two more penalties after the break to reduce the deficit to 14 points, but Lymm were initially unable to close the gap further despite two Sedgeley Park sin-binnings allowing them to put the hosts under extreme pressure.

The dam finally burst when Ryan Brown touched down with the conversion putting Lymm just seven points adrift, but the hosts had the final word by scoring their fifth try to seal victory.

Lymm squad: Quinn Peers, Hamish Scott-Heron, Samir Tahrauoi, James Yates, Ben Polec, Finn Williams, Jake Ashall, Sohail Kakaie; James Anderson, Alex Mukherjee; Reece Forrest, Tom Baker, Rory Riddell, Jorge Reynolds, Ryan Brown. Subs: Gavin Woods, James Pitcher, Sydney Eenhoorn, Alex Stewart, Adam Case