Fylde rounded off their season with a win on Saturday afternoon, with a hard fought 38-26 success over a griity Tynedale squad.
Makeshift winger Adam Lanigan didn’t look out of place at all, scoring two excellent tries, the highlight being his second when a superb Matt Sturgess reverse pass sent Greg Smith clear. Back to Sturgess who found the supporting Lanigan who scored under the posts.
Further scores from Tom Forster and Matt Ashcroft put them into a comfortable 24-0 lead, before Scott Rawlings was sin binned on the stroke of half-time, which was then followed by a James Clark try for the visitors to make it 24-7 at the break.
A Rob Stanwix try, and a Oliver Fletcher brace gave the visitors hope in the second-half, but Fylde scored two tries of their own through Sturgess, who scored his 19th of the season, and a try by Ben Turner on the final whistle to give Fylde the win.
Scoring points has been a clear and obvious strength for Fylde this season, with an aggregate total of 1049 for the campaign.
Tom Carleton sat second in the top try scorer’s table for the season with 30 tries, with Tom Grimes sat on 24 in fourth place, Sturgess and Ben Gregory were both level on 18 tries, and were in 8th and 9th respectively.
Greg Smith had also been excellent with the boot throughout, his 270 points making him the highest points scorer in the league, and he was looking to add a few more to his total before this afternoon.
Carleton and Grimes however were both unable to add anymore to their tallies as they were unavailable for selection. The home side made two changes to the side from their previous outing, Cumbrian pair Henry Hadfield and Harlan Corrie returning to the starting line-up and Ben Turner keeping his place at full-back, and Lanigan was on the wing once more after stepping in for Henry Hadfield last week.
Matthew Garrod lined up for his 100th appearance for the club, and captain Ben Gregory and Olli Parkinson made the outstanding achievement of playing every game this season with their 30th starts.
Both teams met in the opening round of fixtures right back in round one, Fylde picking up a bonus point 48-24 away win, and since then Tynedale have had a mixed record. 2 wins and 2 defeats so far in April left them in 7th place, their away form saw had seen them pick up six wins from 14 so far, with seven wins coming at home.
Matthew Outson was playing his final game as well for Tynedale after playing 13 seasons, and was hoping to sign off his career with a win.
After a disjointed start to the game from both teams, it was the home side that got the scoreboard up and running, Scott Rawlings offloading to Lanigan who raced clear to score, Smith missed the conversion from the touchline.
Lanigan then grabbed his second minutes later with what was the try of the game, when a Matt Sturgess reverse pass sent Smith clear, before he found Sturgess who managed to find the supporting winger, Smith himself converted this time to make it 12-0.
The visitors had barely ventured out of their own half, with Fylde pinning them in, and with 33 minutes gone they made their possession count, this time Forster breaking through the line to score under the posts.
Smith converted to make it 19-0, and a clever break from captain Ben Gregory where he picked up the ball from a quick ruck to break up the line before he set up Matt Ashcroft who raced clear to finish the try off in the corner, to put the home side further ahead.
Scott Rawlings was then sin binned for Fylde, and Tynedale took advantage, with James Clark powering over from close range, with Josh Leslie converting to make it 24-7 at half-time.
Tynedale kept the momentum going in the second-half, Rob Stanwix scoring to reduce Fylde’s lead, but Sturgess put Fylde back on track with his score from a quick tap to put them into a 31-12 lead.
Oliver Fletcher then scored a brace to pull the visitors back to only trail by five at 31-26 and set up a tense final five minutes for the home side.
The Woodlands got behind their team though, and as Fylde looked as though they were just seeing out the win, a kick to the left corner by leading points scorer Smith found Ben Turner, who dived on the loose ball to score, and secure the win for Fylde, Smith converted to make the final score Fylde 38 – 26 Tynedale.
A game which lacked it’s usual flow, Fylde had to come up with different ways to break the Tynedale defence down. Greg Smith kicked from deep on a few occasions, and Tynedale’s defence stood firm early on.
Once Fylde managed to break them down they gained confidence and raced into a 24-0 lead, and looked as though they were going to add a few more points to that impressive total. However a loss of concentration almost cost them dearly, mistakes allowed the visitors to build pressure on the Fylde defence, and when they got the game back to within five points, it could’ve gone either way.
Smith was calm though alongside the other leaders, and made sure that Fylde slowed it down and looked after the win for their 13th home success of the season.
This was a season during which Fylde showed plenty of promise, a good omen for 2022-23. They will hope to consolidate a sustained challenge for promotion come September. Coaches Chris Briers and Alex Loney have laid the foundations for a successful campaign building on 2021-22.
Click here for Chris Farrow’s splendid photos and here for the album from Tynedale’s John Austin.
Teams
Fylde: Turner, Hadfield, Forster, Rawlings, Lanigan, Smith, Sturgess, Barrow, Gregory, Ashcroft, Parkinson, Garrod, Partington, Corrie, Fairbrother.
Replacements: Lewis, Kyle-Clay, Blake, Parker, Clayton.
Tynedale: Todhunter, Cooke, Clark, Miller, Pike, Leslie, Outson, White, Fletcher, Caudle, Cousin, Blackburn, Wainwright, Tiffen, Bell.
Replacements: Batey, Carmichael, Stanwix, West, Hutton.
Game breaking moment: Matt Sturgess has scored plenty of tries this season, all from similar situations, and his quick tap on 63 minutes allowed him to stroll in under the posts to push Fylde into a 31-12 lead, and seemingly putting the game out of sight.
Star Man: Adam Lanigan – Two tries, and a brilliant try saving tackle in the second-half from the stand in winger capped off an excellent afternoon for him. He almost grabbed his hat-trick at the end, but Ben Turner beat him to the ball, but it was a polished performance from the scrum half.
Attendance: 962
