Fylde 57 Huddersfield 14: report by Elliot Burrow
Fylde put last week’s defeat to Sedgley behind them and got back to winning ways with a superb second-half performance to keep up their unbeaten home record in the league so far this season, with Tom Carleton the pick of the action scoring a hat-trick.
A fantastic battle between them and Sedgley certainly lived up to the expectations, and despite Fylde not picking up the win they lost nothing in defeat.
Head coaches Chris Briers and Alex Loney made five changes to the starting line-up from that loss which saw them drop to second in the table but stay level on points with the new league leaders.
Peter Altham and Matt Sturgess still missed out through injury, with Tristan Woodman, Tom Grimes also joining the pair on the sidelines.
Tom Carleton slotted back in at full back, with Sam Stott, Matt Ashcroft, Matt Garrod and Henry Higginson also returning to the fold, as Sam Parker and Ben O’Ryan also took up places on the bench.
The sun was out, and there was also a new scoreboard in place as Fylde got the game underway playing towards the clubhouse.
It’s become a trait now that Fylde start games fast, especially at home, and they started this match no differently. Straight from kick off they found themselves piling the pressure on the Huddersfield line, and when they shipped the ball out to the left, Sam Stott crashed over through a gap from close range to get the new digital scoreboard up and running, the clock signalling we had barely had a minute played.
Adam Lanigan has found himself back at scrum half in recent weeks, moving back in off the wing to take the place of usual number nine Sturgess, and he doubled Fylde’s lead with a superb move in the 10th minute which he started and then finished.
Lanigan burst through the Huddersfield line and managed to find the supporting Jordan Dorrington who then gave it back to Lanigan who flew up the left wing as if he was playing winger and touched down to double Fylde’s lead.
After losing two players to the sin bin last time they were here at the Woodlands, they found themselves having to play with 14 men again after 15 minutes, David Fairbrother the culprit for a ruck infringement and they were made to pay for it.
Huddersfield found themselves down by the Fylde line for the first time in the game, and after a period of sustained pressure their captain Lewis Bradley forced his way over for a converted score to make it 10-7.
Bradley then went from hero to zero for the visitors in the 27th minute when he was then sent for 10 minutes himself for a similar ruck infringement, and now it was Fylde’s turn to capitalise.
Skipper Ben Gregory, who seemed to be playing through the pain with his right knee being heavily strapped up, latched himself onto the back of a trademark rolling maul from the lineout and dropped down over the line for his 9th try of the season.
Adam Lewis started against Sedgley but found himself coming off the bench here, and he made an instant impact in the 33rd minute to put Fylde further in front.
He crashed over with a charging run from close range, before in the 36th minute Jordan Dorrington raced clear to score under the posts to push Fylde into a 29-7 lead.
Before half-time the visitors hit back, another one of the subs in Callum Thompson barged his way over, and Tom Lee converted to make it 29-14 at the break, and seemingly gave his side a chance going into the second 40.
The second-half took a while to get going, and a superb penalty won by Scott Rawlings near his own line seemed to spark the game back into life.
Some brilliant offloads from Fylde sent Tom Carleton clear up the left hand side in the 54th minute, and he bumped off the full back not once, but twice to score in the corner, and Greg Smith converted from the tricky position to extend his team’s advantage to 36-14.
Ben Turner then scored a brilliant solo try in the 68th minute where he jinked his way through before beating the full back for pace to touch down. Carleton then grabbed his second try when Sam Stott made an excellent break over on the right and passed to the supporting Carleton who wasn’t for catching, Smith converted both to bring up the 50 points.
They weren’t finished just yet either. Huddersfield failed to deal with a long kick from Smith in the 75th minute and Carleton picked up the pieces to complete his hat-trick, and seal the win for Fylde, scoreboard gleaming in the dark, reading Fylde 57 – 14 Huddersfield.
A well-deserved week off for the team now, and a chance to get some of those injured players back and ready for selection again.
With only two home games now to play before Christmas as well, they’ll be wanting to make sure they can carry that unbeaten home record into 2023, and keep the pressure on Sedgley at the top of the table.
Star man: Matt Ashcroft – The prop was excellent throughout, getting Fylde going on the front foot with some brilliant carries, setting them up in positions where they could throw the ball out wide and get the backs involved. His hard work in defence also made sure that Huddersfield couldn’t break them down in the second-half, and kept the Fylde defence firm.
Game breaking moment: Adam Lewis had only been on the pitch for a matter of minutes when he found himself crashing over the try line, but his score moved Fylde into a 22-7 lead and seemingly gave Huddersfield a mountain to climb.
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Line-ups:
Fylde: Carleton, Turner, Stott (Rawlings 40), Wilkinson, Dorrington, Smith, Lanigan, Bowker (Lewis 28), Gregory (Parker 65), Ashcroft (Bowker 57), Corrie, Garrod (Parkinson 51), Harrison (O’Ryan 40), Higginson, Fairbrother (Harrison 65).
Huddersfield: Hodson, Workman, Law, Barber, Stewart, Lee, Wilson, Rollins, Myers, Effiom, Pearson, Jones, Brown, Bradley, Jennings. Replacements: Stapley, Thompson, Dawson, Catleugh, Knight.