LYMM got their sequence of important matches against fellow teams in the bottom half of National League 2 North off to a winning start.
They held off a second-half Otley rally to win 15-14 at Crouchley Lane on Saturday, climbing above Preston Grasshoppers to 10th place as a result.
Lymm can visit second-from-bottom Hull Ionians this Saturday with confidence, having also pushed fourth-placed Sheffield to the wire the previous week.
They are 11 points clear of Ionians and will be determined to put more distance between them.
Lymm director of rugby Adam Fletcher said: “Our excellent first-half display based on defence and discipline won us the game against Otley.
“We looked in complete control for 60 minutes and arguably should have been more than 15-0 up.
“Otley fought back strongly in the last 20 minutes as we struggled to wrestle back momentum. However, we closed the game out well to pick up a really important win.”
The defence and commitment of the Lymm players was outstanding, which also could be said of Otley, in a very competitive game played in poor conditions.
Lymm’s strong defence, which was a feature throughout the game, just about kept the Yorkshiremen out as they were held up over the line.
One area where Lymm were on top in the early stages was the lineout and it was from a throw in the corner which resulted in a catch and drive for Rob Makin to touch down for an unconverted try after 11 minutes.
Gavin Stead, the Otley kicker, missed a penalty from 35 metres on 28 minutes which was the nearest the Yorkshire outfit came to scoring throughout the first half.
As the half was drawing to a close, from a drop-kick restart Paddy Jennings fielded the ball 65 metres out and set off for the Otley line, beating numerous defenders with his strength, pace and footwork to score an outstanding individual, unconverted, try for 10-0.
Six minutes into the second half Lymm’s forwards were pounding the try line and the ever-alert Cal Morris spotted a gap. Although he was tackled just short of the line, he offloaded to skipper James Yates who crashed over.
Conditions were now getting worse, and more errors were creeping in, especially from Lymm, as Otley tried to break the stranglehold that the Lymm defence had on them.
The momentum swung Otley’s way as Lymm conceded both possession and penalties.
After Jack Reynolds was yellow carded, Otley’s best player Eddie Crossland went over for a try on 63 minutes which Gavin Stead converted.
With three minutes to go, Otley created an overlap for their speedy winger to finish with Stead again converting.
The remaining time played out in the Otley half with Lymm gaining possession and running the clock down.
Lymm: Ralph McEachran, Rob Makin, Matty Hand, Ben Thompson, James Yates, Joe Johnson, Harry Martin, Josh Hadland, Callum Morris, Tom Shard, Paddy Jennings, Ste Pilkington, James Kimber, Nathan Beesley, Jack Reynolds. Replacements: James Pitcher, Jordan Widdrington, Gav Woods, Oli Higginson, Alfie Simpson.
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