LYMM fly-half Tom Shard has urged his team to push on after a successful first season in National Two North.
This is only Lymm’s second season in the fourth tier in their 64year history, but Shard is hoping the side can push themselves towards the top half of the table.
“I think if we’re talking about the club’s aims this season, we want to push on,” Shard told The Rugby Paper.
“We established ourselves as a solid side in this division last season, steering clear of relegation, and now the foundation has been laid. Now it’s time for us to push on and push up the league.”
Lymm started the new season with back-to-back wins, picking up maximum points.
“We’ve had a solid start so far, and we want to show everyone what we can do,” Shard said. “If you told us in pre-season that we’d have won both our first two away games, we’d have snapped your hand off.
“We need to keep ourselves grounded, we know we’re not the finished article yet. After matches we come back in on the Tuesday, watch the game back and see what we can improve on, work on it on the training ground and hopefully put into action on the weekends.
“If we keep that up, there’s no reason we can’t finish in the mix.”
After achieving promotion to the National Leagues for the first time in 2023, Lymm achieved a tenth-place finish last season, staying comfortably away from relegation, and picking up nine wins on the way.
“If you look at the start of last season, we had a few close games that we couldn’t get to swing our way, but that was more down to a lack of experience at this level,” Shard says. “But those early scores showed we had enough ability to match the level and mix in this league.
“And if we can get those close results to swing our way this season, there’s no reason that we can’t push on.”
One of the highlights last season was the trip to Fylde, where a Jonny Wilkinson-esque drop-goal from Shard secured a last-minute win away at Fylde in the first ever meeting between the two sides.
And Shard was recognised for an incredible season with the village club, being picked in The Rugby Paper’s National Two North team of the season at fly-half.
But despite being selected as a key performer, Shard was just happy that the club had been represented for their achievements.
“It was a big surprise that’s for sure,” said Shard. “It was a nice way for me to finish the season, but more so was a nice indicator of where we are as a club.
“I felt I was one cog in a very well-oiled machine, and I think me being in the team of the season was a great representation of us as a club and what we achieved.”
