Bournville 33 v Fylde 47. Report by newshound Simon Taylor.
(“a weird & wonderful game at Avery Fields yesterday, the like of which I don’t expect to ever see again.”)
Fylde bounced back from their mauling at the hands of Sedgley Tigers to bag a bonus point win at Bournville, albeit in the strangest of games. After a too hot to handle first half when they converted almost every scoring opportunity to lead 47-0, Fylde then could not get going at all in the second stanza.
Bournville, in turn, then scored 33 unanswered points to gain a creditable bonus point. Spectators, players, coaches, and officials were left scratching their collective heads at what they had witnessed, 80 points scored at the far end of the pitch and not a single point under the clubhouse balcony.
The conditions could not have been more different from the week before, a mild sunny and dry day on a 4G artificial pitch providing the ideal platform for running rugby. There was a decent breeze which Fylde played with in the first half, but it was not enough to explain the bizarre scoring sequence. Charlie Partington replaced talisman Dave Fairbrother who was absent with a dead leg, and with Joe Bedlow missing with a shoulder injury the Tom-Tom Club of Forster, Carleton and Grimes joined the returning Greg Smith, Ben Turner and Henry Hadfield in the back line. Matt Sturgess switched back to scrum half, Corey Bowker and Sam Kyle-Clay were restored as the starting props with Joe Higgins called up to the bench.
Fylde were out of the traps quickly scoring in just the second minute. Tom Carleton made the incisive break from deep, and, with supporting runners distracting the defence, he chose to go it alone and outpaced everyone to dot down for the first of his three tries in a remarkable first half. Greg Smith converted and did so again in the ninth minute when Carleton again sauntered in after Matt Sturgess kicked through turnover ball cleverly from half-way, the ball sitting up nicely for Carleton.
Bournville looked shell-shocked and were not helping themselves with a high error count, meaning Fylde were not having to work through multiple phases, they could afford to pounce on spilled bill, something they were doing ruthlessly. Sturgess was next on the scoresheet when he hit a hesitant Bournville player who spilled the ball, he snaffled the gift and ran in unopposed from 45 yards out. Smith again converted and it was 21-0 after only 12 minutes.
Still the one-way traffic flowed as Fylde made another break from deep. Skipper Ben Gregory fashioned a delightful dink over the last line of defence with the outside of his boot and Tom Forster ran on to the bouncing ball and under the posts. Smith’s conversion made it 28-0 on just 14 minutes, 2 points a minute stunning the home team and support, all without Fylde spending time in the opposition half, other than when they were scoring tries.
Bournville at last managed to stem the tide for a spell as they forced and kept possession. The respite was temporary, however, as the instant Fylde got the ball back, they scored again. Fylde were sensibly mixing up the game with kicks from deep when required and they benefited from one by forcing a penalty and taking the quick tap and go. Sturgess and Forster swapped passes with the latter going in for his second try on 22 minutes, converted by Smith for 35-0.
On 30 minutes the lead was increased further to 40 points. Bournville, attempting to run out from near their try line, spilled the ball and it bounced all over the shop before ending in the arms of Carleton for the simplest of his tries to complete a half hour hat-trick. Smith missed his first conversion of the day. In the aftermath Ben Gregory, in a rarely seen event, left the field with a tight hamstring, Joe Higgins replacing him, Sam Kyle-Clay moving to hooker.
Fylde had one more try in them before half-time as a strong tackle again forced Bournville to lose the ball near the half-way line. Their excellent playing surface was doing them no favours as the higher bounce of the ball was again swooped upon by Sturgess, who scampered in under the posts, Smith’s conversion making it 47-0 on 34 minutes. Bournville again gathered themselves in a concerted effort to close the floodgates and forced some pressure and penalties near Fylde’s line. The Fylde defence held firm, just, and they took their biggest half time lead of the season into the changing rooms at the break.
With such a healthy lead, Fylde understandably made changes at half time, Alex Clayton replaced Carleton and Marcus Blake came on for Ben O’Ryan. The challenge for Fylde would be to maintain a high level of engagement, accuracy, and hard work, given that Bournville would have had time to re-group and digest some forthright comments from their coach during the break. It would also be true to say that, whilst Fylde’s ability to convert errors ruthlessly into points from deep with fast attacking play is a trademark and highly enjoyable part of their brand of play, they had been ably assisted by Bournville’s lack of accuracy in the first half. The home team were unlikely to be so generous in the second act.
Bournville started the second half in much better fashion and got themselves going in the 45th minute. Fylde were guilty of trying to rip the ball in the tackle rather than put the man on the deck, and Bournville’s big second row Harry Dawson was too strong in the carry, rumbling over for a try which Mitch McGahan converted to reduce the deficit to 47-7. Bournville now had some sense of belief, and Fylde suddenly found they were in a real game, their fluidity of the first half fading away. They struggled to put their own phases together and had to work hard to get the ball off Bournville, whose accuracy improved as they decided it was time to stop giving gifts to Fylde.
On 59 minutes Fylde lost Greg Smith to the sin bin for a high tackle and Bournville benefited from a couple of penalties to force their way over in the left corner through Owen Williams to make it 47-12. Fylde were now having to concentrate on defence as their go forward momentum was proving difficult to establish. These defensive efforts were sound up to the 69th minute when Edward Drake-Lee went over in the corner for Bournville’s third try, McGahan’s fine conversion bringing the score back to 47-17.
Bournville were nibbling away at the lead incrementally but surely with only 11 minutes left the result was not in doubt? Fylde continued to attempt to impose themselves and bring some of their own ball control back, but despite Harlan Corrie leading the way with some robust running it was just not happening for them, the Ying and Yang of rugby karma deciding Bournville deserved their rewards for mounting a spirited fightback.
On 75 minutes a Fylde defender shot out of the line leaving a yawning chasm of a gap for McGahan to run through under the posts, and he quickly converted his own try via the drop goal method. The score was now 47-26, Bournville had a four-try bonus point, and Fylde had gone from a highly enjoyable first 40 minutes to being desperate for the final whistle.
On 79 minutes Fylde gave a penalty away on the halfway line. Bournville kicked deep to touch, executed the catch and drive and smuggled Scott Rudge over for their fifth try, converted again and now the score was 47-33.
Another try would give Bournville a second losing bonus point, which it would have been churlish to feel they didn’t deserve after such an amazing fightback. Fortunately for Fylde they managed to get and keep the ball for the last minute and bang the ball into touch closing the game out.
This was a bizarre match, the proverbial game of two halves. Too much analysis would be futile for such a one-off type of game which is unlikely to be seen again. Coaches Chris Briers and Alex Loney were satisfied with the bonus point win away from home after a chastening home defeat the week before, but recognised that there were clear lessons to learn for their young squad in how to avoid losing their momentum from such a dominant position.
They awarded the man of the match jointly to Harlan Corrie and Matt Sturgess. Mention should also be made of young Alex Clayton who, despite the way the second half went, acquitted himself very well in only his second appearance, getting a full 40 minutes after his cameo debut slot a week before. Highly impressive, also, was Sam Kyle-Clay’s versatility in switching to hooker when Ben Gregory left the field. His line-out throwing, in particular, was spot-on.
Fylde sit fourth in the table with 17 wins from 22 starts. With 8 games left, 5 at home and 3 away, they will look for a strong finish to the season, with home games against Blaydon and Sheffield on the next two Saturdays.
Teams:
Fylde: Turner; Hadfield (Lanigan 64), Carleton (Clayton 41), Forster, Grimes; Smith, Sturgess; Kyle-Clay (Ashcroft), Gregory (c) (Higgins 20), Bowker (Ashcroft 49), Parkinson, Garrod, Corrie, O’Ryan (Blake 41), Partington (O’Ryan 66).
Bournville: Williams, Burrows (Walker), Coulson (Drake-Lee), Craven, Ho, McGahan, Harrhy, Payne (Burgoyne), Raimondi (Rudge), Smeilus, Dawson, Roach, Sheppard, Scriven, Thompson.
