Fylde vs Rotherham Match Report 29.1.22 by Elliot Burrow
A clash that certainly ended up living to it’s expectations, as Fylde produced an excellent second-half display to fend off the ‘Titans’, with Greg Smith’s boot proving to be the difference.
Despite a breeze coming in from the coast, the sun was still out shining down at the Woodlands ahead of the game, as Fylde prepared to put their unbeaten home league record on the line against Rotherham, who in return were defending their unbeaten home or away record, meaning something had to give.
When the two sides met earlier on in the season at Rotherham, it was today’s visitors who walked away with the win, running out 28 – 13 in the wind and rain after the game was balanced until they eventually got on top late on.
Fylde made two changes to their starting line-up, after a successful trip to Harrogate last weekend which saw them pick up a 33 – 8 victory and move up to 3rd in the table.
Scott Rawlings returned at centre, while Tom Carleton moved back to the role he started the season off playing at full-back, with no changes being made to the forwards.
Marcus Blake dropped out from the bench as a late withdrawal, which meant Charlie Partington stepped up from the Hawks to fill the gap.
The visitors Rotherham sat in 4th position in the league table, but with games in hand to be played they held a chance to be able to move to the top, and they had gone from strength to strength since that win in the reverse fixture in October.
A strong set of forwards which all but epitomised their nickname of the ‘Titans’ were clear to see when the sides were warming up, and it meant the Fylde pack were going to have plenty to deal with once more in the scrums and mauls.
The Fylde Fox was also out for the big occasion, and the stage was set once more, as the referee blew his whistle, and Rotherham kicked the game off in front of a large crowd.
Fylde got the scores rolling with a Greg Smith penalty conversion after only 3 minutes on the clock, and he was then called into defensive action moments later as he held up a strong Rotherham drive on his own line to keep the visitors out.
Rotherham were on the front foot in the early exchanges, keeping Fylde pinned inside their own half with their strong drives, but the Fylde defence was standing strong and keeping them at bay.
Matt Garrod was then sin binned to reduce Fylde to 14 men but the visitors couldn’t make the man advantage count, and when Garrod returned 10 minutes later the scores were still 3 – 0.
Both sides were starting to warm to the task, with Fylde trying to play expansive rugby, with Joe Bedlow and Henry Hadfield both making good breaks before the attacks broke down, while Rotherham were sticking to their highly effective drives up the middle.
Greg Smith wasn’t just putting the points on the board for Fylde, he was still busy keeping them out, with him and Adam Lanigan stopping another Rotherham drive and holding them up over the line.
Smith went on to kick another penalty conversion on the stroke of half-time, to make it Fylde 6 – 0 Rotherham going into the break.
It was déjà vu at the start of the second-half, with Smith kicking an early penalty conversion to extend Fylde’s lead, but Rotherham scored the first try of the game when former rugby league player Callum Bustin made a break off the back of a lineout, and found the supporting Harry Dunne who raced away to the corner to score.
Matt Minogue couldn’t convert from the touchline but the game was starting to open up now, and Fylde produced a try of their own when Scott Rawlings broke through the line and found Matt Sturgess who dived over under the posts, and with Smith converting Fylde now had a 16 – 5 lead.
Henry Hadfield then dived over in the corner to push the home side further clear, but Rotherham weren’t down and out just yet, Callum Bustin touching down after a driving maul to make it Fylde 21 – 10 Rotherham with 10 to play.
Bustin crossed for his second of the afternoon on the final whistle to reduce the deficit, but Fylde held on to hand the ‘Titans’ their first loss of the season.
Fylde joint coach Chris Briers was delighted with how his side performed, saying: ““It’s a really good feeling being able to hand them their first loss of the season.
“We put in a below par performance over at their place and we knew that, and they’ve been grinding out wins since then so we were confident that if we could stick to our guns and play the way we wanted then we’d put in a good performance and we did.”
Another important home win for Fylde, who were still unbeaten in 2022 so far.
Not only had they beaten the only team in the league who still hadn’t tasted defeat, the win allowed them to move up to 2nd in the table behind Hull, six points off the league leaders.
The usual hard yards from the forwards allowed the backs to eventually find space and start playing more expansive rugby in the second-half, which ultimately ended up being the difference.
But it was the defence that was the most impressive element of Fylde’s performance, keeping the very big Rotherham pack out for a long period of time, and even when the visitors came on strong towards the end, they still held their own to see out another huge win on home soil.
Greg Smith’s penalty conversions and defensive efforts in the first-half when no one could score allowed Fylde to set the platform that they needed to be able to build on, and in the second-half they did exactly that.
A week off now which will allow the side to recover properly, and get ready to go again on the 12th February for when they travel to Wharfedale, a side they beat earlier on in the season 48 – 18.
They return to the Woodlands on the 19th of February when they take on Sedgley Park and will be looking to make it a perfect 10 from 10 at home in the league this season.
Teams
Fylde: Carleton, Hadfield, Bedlow, Rawlings, Grimes, Smith, Sturgess, Kyle-Clay, Gregory, Bowker, Parkinson, Garrod, Corrie, O’Ryan, Fairbrother.
Replacements: Barrow, Ashcroft, Partington, Forster, Lanigan.
Rotherham: Minogue, Field, Hayes, Dunne, Cooke, Carlisle, Boxhall, Capps, Newborn, Stout, Challinor, Smith, Nwosu-Hope, Poole, Bustin.
Replacements: Bergmanas, Donkor, Richardson, Williams, West.
Game breaking moment: Henry Hadfield’s try on the 70 minute mark allowed Fylde to have some breathing space with a 21 – 5 lead. Good link up play allowed Carleton to find Partington, who produced an excellent pass to find Hadfield on the wing, before the Cumbrian was still left with plenty to do, but he dived over to put the ball down with a stunning leap in the corner.
Star man: Greg Smith – When it mattered most, Smith delivered. His six points which he kicked in the first-half alongside his two excellent defensive efforts to hold a Rotherham player up over the line allowed Fylde to have an important lead during the break and gave them the platform they needed for the second-half.
Click here for Chris Farrow’s great photos of such a good day for the Club, on and off the field.
