LYMM were punished for not being at their best away to lower-placed Hull Ionians on Saturday.

They fell 31-19 to a side sat two places beneath them in the National League 2 North table.

“We didn’t match Ionians’ energy and intensity,” said director of rugby Adam Fletcher.

“We were a little bit off in all areas and at this level you get punished.

“I was happy with how we rallied in the last 10 minutes but, ultimately, we left ourselves with too much to do.

“We will review and recover and I’m sure we will be better when we face Hull at home in two weeks’ time, on Saturday March 9.”

Going into the contest, with both sides sitting at the wrong end of the table, it was considered league points in the seven remaining fixtures would likely be vital in the quest for survival in the National Leagues.

The early exchanges were very even in terms of possession, but the play was mostly in Lymm’s territory as they found it challenging to break down Ionians’ well drilled defence.

It was in trying to give the ball width to break down Ionians’ defence that Lymm gifted the first score to their opponents from an interception.

An individual second try in the 23rd minute put Ionians 14-0 in front but Lymm quickly responded.

Rhys Lilly made a telling break into the 22 and with Ste Pilkington for support was able to draw the last defender and put his centre away.

In the dying moments of the first half, a Lymm driving maul headed purposefully towards the Hull try line.

It went to ground agonisingly short and when scrum-half Cal Morris gathered the ball he lost control in his efforts to dot down.

It felt at the time that this was an important moment in the match as it had an impact both on the scoreboard and momentum.

Five minutes into the new half the hosts added to their try tally, restoring their 14-point cushion.

Back came Lymm with a period of sustained pressure in the Ionians’ 22.

Lymm seemed to be knocking at the try line door for an age, being made to work exceptionally hard for every inch of territory, and in the end a chink appeared which allowed Cashel Chilvers to force his way over by the posts, with Tom Shard converting.

A bad seven-minute spell followed for Lymm as Ionians registered a further two tries, moving the score on to 31-12 after 60 minutes.

A third try followed for Lymm, again after concerted pressure in the Ionians ‘red zone’.

Morris threw a long pass to the right wing where Nathan Beesley stepped inside his man to cross and Jack Reynolds converted.

Lymm: Gav Woods, Rob Makin, Matty Hand, Ben Thompson, James Yates, Rhys Lilly, Harry Martin, Oli Higginson, Callum Morris, Tom Shard, Paddy Jennings, Ste Pilkington, James Kimber, Nathan Beesley, Jack Reynolds. Replacements: James Pitcher, Jordan Widdrington, Cashel Chilvers, Andy Rowley, Alfie Simpson.