Nothing quite builds the excitement as a derby match against your town rivals. Stockton Lane was the setting for the latest match between Warrington & Lymm U15s. The pitch was in great shape despite the awful recent weather, their was some gusty wind, but it was dry and the sun was shining which were perfect conditions for some attacking rugby, which both teams delivered in spades.

Warrington started the brighter team, they kicked to Lymm and there stifling defence didn’t allow Lymm an out, forcing them to kick to clear their lines. Warrington secured the lineout, and went through multiple phases with both backs and forwards, driving them towards the Lymm line, the ball came to Logan Jones (Sponsored by The Brass Monkey) who powered through the would be tacklers to score under the posts, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) knocked over the conversion, 7 – 0

Lymm came roaring back at Warrington and camped in the Warrington 22, possession changed hands a few times, but then Lymm pounced on an error from Warrington, charging down a kick to regather, put the ball through backs to run in a try under the posts, the conversion was made, 7 – 7

This score seemed to deflate Warrington and bolster Lymm, and they took full advantage scoring 3 tries in 7 minutes. Warrington’s defence was getting narrow too often thinking the threat was coming on the fringes from forwards, but it is in the backline where the danger lies with this Lymm team, and they repeatedly showed great handling to attack down their left and often had a multiple man overlap, this saw them run in 3 tries this way, although the scorers obviously wanted to make things as difficult as possible for their kicker by dotting them all down in the corner, which meant that all 3 conversions were missed, 7 – 12, 7 – 17, 7 – 22

There was one last score in the first half and that went to Lymm as well, Warrington had been under pressure again but had a lineout close to their line, they secured it and drove their maul towards the 22, the ball came out and they kicked clear, nearly perfect execution, but then an amazing piece of skill from the Lymm winger reversed things, he caught the dropping ball on the volley and returned it to the Warrington line, and all they could do was regather and be driven back over their line for a 5 meter scrum, they just had enough time for the scrum with the clock in the red and Lymm took advantage by picking from the base of the scrum and driving over to score, the conversion was missed, 7 – 27

HT

Warrington were hoping for a reaction at the start of the second half but instead it was Lymm that continued their purple patch, they immediately were putting Warrington under pressure, Warrington’s defence kept forcing turnovers, but they couldn’t build any phases, the next score started with Warrington having the ball but great pressure defence from Lymm forced an error with Warrington passing it dead in their own in goal, the resulting scrum saw them pick and go again to drive over, conversion was scored, 7 – 34

The next score of the game went to Lymm as well to round off a pretty dominant 30 minute spell for the visitors, Warrington again had the ball but a misjudged clearing kick went straight to one of Lymm’s danger runners to return it with interest, a quick ruck allowed them to pick and go and go in unopposed in the corner, the conversion was missed, 7 – 39

Warrington could be forgiven at this point if their heads had completely dropped, but in fact it had the opposite effect, and they dominated the last 20 minutes of the game. They went deep with their kick off and a great chase saw Lymm make an error on the gather and give Warrington the ball, they went though a couple of phases before giving the ball to Joss Ivins (Sponsored by Combined Chemical Ltd) he showed great vision by spotting a gap in the blindside defence, ghosted through 2 defenders before outpacing the last to score in the corner, conversion was missed, 12 – 39

The score again heavily involved Joss Ivins (Sponsored by Combined Chemical Ltd), after a period of both teams forcing turnovers and kicking for territory, Joss gathered a loose ball, spotted a gap and drove through it, a great tackle brought him down, but good support runners meant Warrington secured quick ball, it was picked up by Tai Beddall (Sponsored by OB Painting & Decorating) and he drove straight at the defence and how too much pace and power as he broke free and scored under the posts, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) kicked the conversion, 19 – 39

Warrington’s confidence was growing by the minute, and whilst Lymm’s defence was getting them turnovers, they were struggling to keep the ball for long and Warrington’s ambition was causing them problems, Warrington attacked from their own half and a serious of passes and offloads got them into the Lymm 22, Lymm forced a great turnover, but could only keep it for one phase before Warrington won it back, again went through phases with ambition towards the right corner, great last ditch defence from Lymm stopped them, but it was only a temporary reprieve, as Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) picked from the base of a maul to dot the ball down, the conversion was missed, 24 – 39

There was time for one last try in the game, and Warrington saved their best for last, they caught the kick off and then a couple of offloads created an opportunity and the backs took full advantage, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) spotted a gap in the rush defence and went through it, fixing his man before offloading to Seth Phillipson (Sponsored by BCR Service Ltd), who straightened and did the same to the last defender before passing to Joss Ivins (Sponsored by Combined Chemical Ltd) to streak away under the posts, Will Reynolds (Sponsored by Just Builders (NW) Ltd) kicked the conversion, 31 - 39

In the end Lymm were deserving of their victory combining some sparkling attacking rugby with some dogged defence, but Warrington were left ruing that 30 minute spell in the middle of the match where they underperformed and left themselves with too much to do.
There were several standout efforts across the Warrington team, and that meant there was two Man of the Match named Joss Ivins (Sponsored by Combined Chemical Ltd) and Billy Woolvine (Sponsored by Service Metals Group) sharing the honours