Lymm 3-2(Cup round one)

KWC met with Lymm for the opening round of the cup games – the first time since Keswick last beat this strong team that sits two divisions above them. Keswick knew the quality that Lymm possessed, having played league and cup fixtures in previous seasons and Lymm intended to make amends for their previous defeat.
From the off KWC showed their intent and pressed the ball high up the pitch. This allowed Barnes to take advantage of a stray pass in defence and fired past the Lymm keeper to make it 1-0 with only a minute played.
KWC couldn’t believe their luck going a goal up so quickly, but straight from the push back Lymm won a short corner through some slick passing down the right flank. Keswick paid the price for not switching on after going a goal ahead and Lymm converted the resulting short corner to bring the teams level, less than five minutes into the game.
KWC then showed their own attacking prowess when a slick passing move of their own released Proctor into the opposition’s D who was then fouled and gained a short corner. The penalty corner was played out to captain Wilson who powered home a ferocious low shot that was too strong for the defender on the line making it 2-1.
The next 20 minutes were scrappy with both teams trying to take control of the game but both sides of the defence stood strong. KWC were closest to getting the next goal during this period when Shaw’s aerial ball was volleyed towards goal by Barnes - he was just inches away from making it 3-1 with the Lymm keeper stranded.
Lymm got the breakthrough they were looking for when a quickly taken free hit was upgraded to a short corner due to a badly placed KWC player. The resulting short corner was a mirror image of their first goal and the Lymm striker made it 2-2 with a deflection at back post.
After half time KWC dug deep and some resilient defending began to frustrate Lymm who received a couple of green cards as a consequence. The Lymm attack at one point resorted to hitting out at the Keswick defence and the resulting assault left Mattear requiring hospital attention to stitch up a hole left by a Lymm stick.
Keswick continued to drive forward with searching runs down the flanks from Swanston and McCully and in the middle of the second half Keswick were rewarded for all their hard work. Swanston collected a long ball on the left flank and was able to find Proctor in the middle of the park who in turn found the onrushing Shaw from right back - Shaw drove into Lymm’s D and played a superb ball to back post for Mccully to slot home making it 3-2.
The remainder of the game was played out in the KWC half with Keswick struggling to get the ball clear or string together a counter attack. KWC showed their defensive quality with some outstanding individual performances from Matter, Wilson and man of the match Sloan. The rest of the team also dug deep with tanks running on empty to grind out a winning result allowing KWC to progress to the second round of the cup.