Match Report: Fylde 43 Wharfedale 3, by Elliot Burrow
‘Clinical’ and ‘controlled’, two words which sum up perfectly Fylde’s 43-3 win over Wharfedale at The Woodlands, a victory which saw them make it seven from seven, and cement their spot at the top of National League Division Two North in the process.
A dominant display on their travels the week previous meant they were the perfect six from six coming into the game, that win over Rotherham giving players, coaches, and the supporters at the club plenty to smile about, as they returned back to home turf for the first time in three weeks.
Fylde made a handful of changes to the side that was victorious over in South Yorkshire, Ben Turner coming in on the wing, with Adam Lanigan moving back to scrum-half and David Fairbrother slotting back in at number eight.
Connor Wilkinson went to full-back, and Tom Forster returned on the bench to replace the person who currently sat joint second in the try scoring table alongside captain Ben Gregory, Tom Grimes.
The visitors had made an excellent start to the season, winning their opening two matches, before narrowly falling to defeat against Hull Ionians. They managed to respond with another win to make it three victories from four, but in recent weeks have found themselves just on so missing out again, first being edged out to Rotherham before Tynedale walked away with the points last time out.
Consistent nonetheless though, and they welcomed back winger Ryan Hodgson into the squad from a lengthy absence, and former captain and director of rugby Rob Baldwin also featured on the bench for ‘Dale’, who had brought their usual good following of supporters with them, and they got the game underway with the kick-off towards the clubhouse.
A tense start to proceedings saw both sides struggling to get the scoring going, but Fylde were slowly starting to win the early tug of war between the two teams, and were rewarded for that when they won a penalty right in front of the posts, which Greg Smith just simply couldn’t turn down. Smith stepped up and converted to edge his side in front, but it took until the 20th minute for the first try of the game to be scored.
Tristan Woodman seems to like playing in front of the home crowd, scoring a brace in the previous match here at the start of October against Blaydon, and he was the man that got the home side up and running, when he wrongfooted the Wharfedale defence with an excellent jinking run, which saw him dive over under the sticks to score.
Smith currently sat third in the overall points scoring table coming into the game with 57, and he quite quickly had made it 62 with this conversion and his early penalty goal, Fylde led 10-0.
Wharfedale responded to Fylde’s opening score, winning a penalty of their own near the Fylde line, an opportunity which was always too good to refuse for the man who came into the game trailing Fylde’s Smith by two points in the points scoring charts Tom Mann, who stepped up and slotted it over to make it 10-3.
One characteristic of this Fylde side is the driving maul they always execute superbly near the opposition’s line, and when they won a penalty in the Wharfedale 22, and Smith managed to place the resulting kick right in the corner, there was only ever going to be one result from the lineout that followed.
Gregory’s throw was collected, before the skipper latched onto the back of the maul and cleverly handed the ball back to Scott Rawlings, who helped drive them over the line, and touch down to score.
Smith was pinpoint again with the boot, and extended his side’s advantage to 17-3, and that’s how it stayed until after half-time, with both teams seemingly slotting back into the arm wrestle they had found themselves in for the opening 10 minutes.
The first-half may have ended with a whimper and saw Fylde restricted from getting any more points, but the second-half started with a bang, with less than 60 seconds gone on the clock, Fylde had already scored, and what a try it was.
Connor Wilkinson, who was playing at full-back, brought back an excellent kick return to break clear through the ‘Dale’ defence, before he kicked over the on rushing full-back and found Jordan Dorrington who dived on the ball in the corner to score, Smith couldn’t convert this time, but Fylde were rolling, and the shackles were well and truly off now.
The visitors were struggling to break down the home defence, which was standing firm, but they couldn’t keep Fylde out themselves, this time Olli Parkinson crashing over from close range to give Fylde the bonus point at 29-3.
That opening score in the half had proved pivotal, and had given Fylde full control, with Wharfedale very rarely wandering into the Fylde 22.
Ben Turner finished off an excellent passing move out wide, before Adam Lanigan, who was back in at scrum-half for the absent Matt Sturgess, did what every good scrum-half does and backed up a Smith break to score, and with Smith converting both, Fylde now led 43-3.
That’s how it finished, and Fylde had the perfect seven from seven in the league this season.
Tynedale are next up here at The Woodlands, before what could be another mouth-watering clash on the horizon.
A trip to Sedgley awaits the week after, the only other side in the division who haven’t tasted defeat yet this season, and the team that sat in second place, three points behind Fylde at the top.
First up though are Tynedale, and only once the dust has settled next Saturday evening, will the side’s attention turn to Sedgley.
Click here for Chris Farrow’s action photos.
Star man: Tristan Woodman – An excellent performance from Woodman, who has clearly got a big future ahead of him you feel. He was superb against Blaydon with his two tries, and put in a similar performance here. A try to showcase all the talent he possesses with his quick feet fooling the Wharfedale defence, and allowing him to stroll over. He produced some vital turnovers at the breakdown defensively, and has been a key part of Fylde’s successful start to the season as well.
Game breaking moment: Connor Wilkinson was brilliant at full-back, and as the game went on he became more and more influential in proceedings. His excellent kick return just after half-time which saw him break clear and produce a lovely chip kick over the Wharfedale fullback allowed Jordan Dorrington to score in the corner handed Fylde the initiative and full control of the match.
Line-ups
Fylde: Wilkinson; Dorrington (Rawlings 77), Stott, Rawlings (Forster 53), Turner; Smith, Lanigan; Bowker (Ashcroft 30, Altham 69), Gregory (Bowker 69), Altham (Lewis 30), Parkinson, Corrie (Garrod 60), Woodman, Higginson (Harrison 41), Fairbrother.
Wharfedale: Bullough; Hodgson, Blackwell, Cicognini, Prell (Kaup-Samuels 60); Mann, Darwin (Bell 63); Beesley (Dickinson 69), Wright (Speres 58), Altham, Borrill, Hedgley, Carlson, Fawcett (Baldwin 58), Burridge (Fawcett 69).