LYMM remain in contention for promotion thanks to their 30-26 home win against Sheffield Tigers on Saturday.

Although their performance was not at the dazzling heights they reached in the first half of the season, they did enough to stay equal top of National League 2 North with Leeds Tykes.

They will be seeking improvements for Saturday’s trip to bottom team Harrogate.

Lymm knew the approach they would have to take against Sheffield but their poor execution of the plan on this occasion made life difficult for them.

Head coach Andy Davies said: “It was a tough start to 2025 against a well-drilled Sheffield Tigers team.

“We gave away too many penalties and this created a stop-start game which resulted in us not being at our free-flowing best.”

Tigers are third from bottom of the ladder but gave Lymm plenty to think about.

Forwards coach Mark Williams concluded: “We expected a physical contest against Sheffield Tigers and that’s exactly what we got.

“I think it’s fair to say that it was a far from convincing performance from our end, but ultimately we snuck five points.

“We’ll be putting in the hard yards as coaches and players over the course of this week, to ensure that we put in a much more cohesive performance at Harrogate on Saturday.”

Lymm were first to get over the whitewash.

From a lineout, Lymm gathered for an excellent driving maul. Flanker Josh Hadland was the last man holding the ball, and he dived to score from the back of the maul. Tom Shard’s conversion from a difficult angle hit the crossbar but fell the wrong way.

Tigers knocked on the restart kick, Lymm capitalised to gain territory deep in their opponent's half and set Shard up for the easiest of drop goals.

Any delusions that this free-scoring start would lead to an easy win were immediately dispelled as Tigers hit back with a converted try.

Lymm responded through Wadsworth making a huge run straight down Tigers’ centre, weaving his way 25 metres to score between the posts for Shard to improve with his boot.

The Yorkshiremen came right back and scored again, through their own iteration of the long-distance maul and the conversion cut the deficit to one point.

The tit-for-tat scoring continued as a kick through by Morris bounced awkwardly, bamboozled the Tigers full-back and Shard was on hand to touch down but missed the shot at goal from wide out.

He did land a penalty though which meant the teams turned round with Lymm 23-14 in front.

The second half started with Tigers winning a penalty near Lymm’s try line and quick thinking saw them tap and go, driving over to cut the gap to four points.

Lymm were being penalised increasingly, and two offences in a row led to a Tigers a lineout 15 metres from the Lymm line. A second maul saw them take the lead for the first time, and the conversion took the score to 23-26.

Everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at Sheffield to capture the last vital score.

Seb Kelly proved to be the man of the hour as he bullishly took on the Tigers defence to cash in on the space teammates had created for him. Shard’s conversion completing the scoring.

Lymm: Ben Lilley, James Pitcher, Matty Hand, James Yates, Ben Thompson, Seb Kelly, Rhys Lilly, Josh Hadland, Cal Morris, Tom Shard, Paddy Jennings, Ste Pilkington, Sam Wadsworth, Jack Stride, Nathan Beesley. Replacements: Samir Tahraoui, Rob Makin, Joe Higgins, Isaac Millachip, Jack Reynolds.