Hull Ionians 31 v Fylde 34: report by Simon Taylor
Table toppers Fylde maintained their perfect start to the season as they edged out the previously unbeaten Hull Ionians to pick up their fourth consecutive bonus point win. 20 points from four games sees Fylde lead Division 2 North by a single point from Sedgley Park. A titanic tussle in a ding-dong contest went down to the wire, Fylde edging the try count five to four as the spectators at the excellent facilities at Brantingham Park were treated to a hatful of points for the second season running.
Fylde led 17-7 at half-time, suffered an 11-minute mini-collapse after the break to go 24-17 down, regained their composure and game control to score 17 unanswered points of their own and lead 34-24 before Ionians scored a 76th minute try to narrow the gap to 3 points making the last few minutes a tense and nervous affair.
With Tom Carleton unavailable again Fylde’s back line was unchanged with Jordan Dorrington at full back, Adam Lanigan and Tom Grimes on the wings. Sam Stott and Conor Wilkinson continued their increasingly impressive looking centre partnership, and the marquee half-back pairing of Matt Sturgess and Greg Smith was once again at the playmaking helm. Toby Harrison picked up an injury late in the week, but such is the wealth of back row options available to Fylde that coaches Chris Briers and Alex Loney still felt comfortable in asking Harlan Corrie to fill in at second row once again, this time with Mr Reliable Olli Parkinson starting alongside him.
Veteran warrior Dave Fairbrother was sandwiched in between the highly promising youngsters Henry Higginson and Tristan Woodman in the back row. The starting front row was Matt Ashcroft, skipper Ben Gregory and Joe Higgins. ‘On the pine’, as they say in New Zealand, was a very strong bench of Pete Altham, Corey Bowker, Matt Garrod, Ben O’Ryan and that other wily veteran Scott Rawlings.
Fylde kicked off with a decent wind at their backs and the early stages were cagey, defences on top, creating errors in the carry meaning neither team were able to string too many phases together. The first penalty went to Fylde on 7 minutes when Henry Higginson earned a fine turnover at the breakdown. He may be small in stature, but Higginson has the perfect build and technique to provide a great jackal option for Fylde. Smith’s kick to the corner and the line-out win led to multiple phases in the Ionians 22 but solid home defence, unsurprising for a team coached by ex GB RL star Graham Steadman, meant Fylde’s attempts to get the scoreboard ticking were to no avail.
Finally, on 15 minutes, a line pass saw Conor Wilkinson break through, draw the full back and put Greg Smith in for the opening try, which he converted to get Fylde going at 7-0. The lead didn’t last long as Ionians forced a scum penalty, set up the catch and drive and released the ball for inside centre Josh Britton to crash over. Goal kicking machine Lewis Minikin added the extras, and the game was tied at 7 apiece.
Fylde nudged back in front on 29 minutes when a forceful trundle by Matt Ashcroft led to a penalty which Smith slotted to make it 10-7. Tristan Woodman showed he is no slouch in the jackal area either with a fine penalty win to relieve pressure. Ionians held up Fairbrother over the line to relieve pressure themselves before earning a penalty on the Fylde 10-meter line on 38 minutes. Minikin missed his only kick of the day with the tough long-range attempt.
Crucially, Fylde capitalised on that miss by scoring with the last play of the half. A neat grubber kick and re-gather by Smith created an overlap for Adam Lanigan, as Lanigan was levelled into touch he slid another perfect grubber kick through which try poacher extraordinaire Ben Gregory swooped on to dot down. Smith converted and at 17-7 up Fylde took a healthier lead into half-time than it had looked was on the cards.
At the start of the second half the wind had dropped somewhat which was a bonus for Fylde. The sun came back out but, unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for Fylde as they rather lost their way. An inaccurate 10-to-15-minute spell followed when they looked like they were swimming in treacle. It was a period where they could do little right, handing the initiative to the home team. The errors began by letting the kick-off bounce, then a poor exit kick gave the big, bustling Ionians full-back Jack Townend the chance to run the ball back with interest. He duly did so, crashing through two tackles and offloading for Minikin to race under the posts, converting his own try to make it 17-14 after 42 minutes.
Five minutes later Ionians earnt a turnover penalty and kicked for touch. An awful kick was turned into a great one by Fylde knocking the ball on close to their own line rather than let the ball run dead. Another penalty followed, Minikin slotted it and suddenly the scores were level at 17 each on 47 minutes.
The Fylde coaches were understandably unhappy with what was happening and made changes, Rawlings, O’Ryan and Altham replacing Stott, Woodman, and Ashcroft. There was no immediate halt to the trend though as Fylde knocked on at the re-start. They did make a mess of the subsequent Ionians scrum but despite going backwards under pressure, the Ionians number 8 managed to pick up and make 20 meters with a muscular charge. Quick ball had Fylde in disarray, the ball was shipped at pace and winger Nathan Hill squeezed in for the try. Minikin’s excellent touchline conversion meant Ionians had scored 17 points in 11 minutes and Fylde were 24-17 down and in danger of letting the game run away from them.
To their credit, Fylde composed themselves and extricated themselves out of the hole they had dug themselves into before it threatened to close over them. Bowker replaced Higgins and Fylde managed to get ball control back by improving their accuracy and increasing the tempo of their game. Pete Altham looked to have squeezed in at the corner, but his foot was deemed to have gone in touch.
It mattered not as a penalty advantage saw Fylde kick to touch, Parkinson took the line out and the excellent driving maul rumbled over with Ben O’Ryan taking the leather over the whitewash. Smith’s conversion attempt drifted wide, but Fylde had stopped the rot and were back in the game at 24-22 down with 57 minutes gone.
Fylde maintained their improvement and gradually monopolised possession and territory, with penalties now going their way. They worked up field and quick hands on the left created space for Tom Grimes to go over for their bonus point try on 64 minutes. Smith converted and Fylde were now back in front at 29-24.
The lead was further improved on 67 minutes when a strong burst up the middle by Ben Gregory saw Fylde awarded another penalty when the tackler made no attempt to roll away. Smith kicked to the corner and another line out catch and drive was executed to perfection, this time Ben Gregory scoring, his second try of the day. It was unconverted but Fylde had scored 17 unanswered points of their own in the same amount of time that Ionians had done so.
The lead was now a more comfortable two score one at 34-24.
Matt Garrod replaced Harlan Corrie after his shift at the coalface, but Ionians were not done yet and came back strongly in the last 10 minutes. They battered away at the Fylde line until it finally gave way, the impressive number 8 George Mewburn forcing his way over. Minikin converted and with only 3 minutes left Fylde’s lead was a nervy one at 34-31.
Fortunately, Ionians, in trying to run the ball from deep knocked on and Fylde were able to force a scrum penalty, then play keep ball to run the clock down and secure a very hard-fought win. In truth, the game could have gone either way, and Ionians were full value for their 2 bonus points. Both these teams should be in the mix for finishing in the top 4 come the end of the season.
Coach Chris Briers commented: “This was a really good win. First half we had control and went into half time confident. First 10 mins of the second half we made mistakes and Ionians capitalised. The rest of the game was a tight contest, but we regained momentum and showed great character to get back on top and see the game out. Ionians has always been a tough place to go to and we are really pleased with the result. Last season, I’m not sure we’d have finished the game the same way, after going behind in the second half, which shows how much we have grown and developed over the off season and first few games.”
Teams:
Fylde: Dorrington, Lanigan (Stott 79), Stott (Rawlings 46), Wilkinson, Grimes, Smith, Sturgess, Higgins (Bowker 56), Gregory (c), Ashcroft (Altham 46), Parkinson, Corrie (Garrod 73), Woodman (O’Ryan 46), Higginson, Fairbrother.
Hull Ionians: Townend, Wilson, Minikin, Britton( Munnelly), Hill, Kirk, Pocklington (Metcalfe), Morton (Westwood), Hudson, Bell (Laverick), Makin, Heelas, Powell (Thompson), Sanderson, Mewburn.
Photos courtesy of (a) Sean Wilkinson, and (b) The Rugby Paper.