Fylde travel to Brantingham Park to face old friends and rivals Hull Ionians on Saturday (ko 15.00) for the 22nd National League game between the clubs. Fylde are currently in 4th place in N2(N), Ionians in 6th. Brantingham Park is a really well appointed multisports set-up, located in Brough (HU15 1HX) well west of the City of Hull and 127 miles from the Fylde Coast via the M62.
Ionians started the season very positively, with four victories in the first five matches. Mixed form in mid-season nevertheless enabled the Club to maintain a place in the breakaway six at the top of the division. Four successive victories in the New Year gave them a boost but three defeats in the last five fixtures have been frustrating. Rather like Fylde, Ionians have put middle and lower division teams to the sword but have struggled against the top group including their local East Yorkshire rivals and league leaders Hull, Sedgley Park and Rotherham Titans.
Fylde and Hull Ionians first locked horns in the 2005-6 season in National Two (North) and Ionians’ first visit to the Woodlands was on 8th April 2006. The East Yorkshire club took the first game 25-24 at Brantingham Park in December 2015 and the return home game at the Woodlands was just as close with a last minute try by their then Head Coach Mick Watson equalling the final score at 35-all.
Fylde’s record improved in the six seasons the clubs met each other running up to the end of the 2010-11 campaign with nine victories, a draw and three defeats. Fylde were promoted to National One for the 2011-12 season and in 2015-16 Ionians joined them in that division. It was the Yorkshiremens’ turn to dominate, with five wins against Fylde’s three up to the end of the 2018-19 campaign. Both clubs were relegated in 2018 but Ionians bounced back immediately for another season in National One in 2018-19 which ended in another relegation in 2020.
Overall, in the 21 matches to date, the balance sheet shows 13 Fylde victories, 7 to Ionians and the single draw.
One major new ‘signing’ last summer was Head Coach Graham Steadman who brings extensive rugby league experience to the Club, including more than 200 appearances for Castleford, and a rugby union CV which takes in the Ireland and Scotland national sides as well as Newcastle Falcons, Cardiff Blues and London Scottish. His priority will be to guide the first team back to National League 1 but he is also charged with filling some of the rugby development gaps created by cuts at the Rugby Football Union and maintaining and extending rugby union participation in a city dominated by RL.
Perhaps the most outstanding player in the Ionians’ squad is former England Counties and Yorkshire lock Joe Makin who has played against Fylde many times. He marked his commitment earlier this season by making his 300th appearance for the Club. Other very experienced members of the Ionians pack include props David Laverick and Ben Bell, and skipper James Stephenson. A very productive tactic by Ionians in recent seasons has been a powerful driving maul. In their last game at Blaydon, hooker Stephenson notched a hat trick of tries on the end of these mauls. The match reporter stressed this advantage: “We catch and drive well, more please!” Other forwards being mentioned in recent despatches include backrower George Mewburn and one of the notable Thundercliffe clan, Josh.
Backs to look out for include the highly experienced Lewis Minikin, comfortable in most places in the back line, and also a prolific goal kicker who features in National Two North’s top 10 points scorers. Dangerous backs include centre Josh Britton and winger Sam Wilson who, incidentally, says on the Ionians website that the team he most looks forward to playing against is Fylde! An interesting and talented young newcomer is Marian Opoku-Fofie, a product of Pocklington School and the Yorkshire Rugby Academy.
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Fylde make one change in their starting line-up at Hull Ionians compared with the 15 who ran out against Sheffield Tigers two weeks ago. Ben O’Ryan is named in the backrow in place of Harlan Corrie.
Amongst the replacements, prop Zack Barrow, hooker Sam Parker and back Alex Clayton all return to the squad.
Good luck guys!
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Chris Farrow’s photographs from the game played on a very wet day in November 2021 at the Woodlands are at: https://bit.ly/30MjrWx
