Leeds Tykes 30 v Fylde 17: report by Simon Taylor
For the second consecutive away game Fylde travelled back across the M62 from Yorkshire with no league points, but plenty of positives, as they put in a much-improved performance from the home defeat to Tynedale a week earlier. An excellent first and last half hour saw them give leaders Leeds their sternest test of the year so far.
A 20-minute spell either side of half time ultimately proved the difference as Fylde lost two men to the sin bin and shipped four tries during that costly period. Leeds ran out winners by four tries to three, securing their eighth straight bonus point win to maintain their perfect start to their season as they attempt to bounce back from relegation. Despite the positives, this was Fylde’s 5th straight defeat, after only suffering three defeats all last season.
Frustratingly, Fylde will know that the performance they put in on Saturday, had it been replicated earlier, would almost certainly have meant three of those five defeats would have been wins.
Coaches Alex Loney and Chris Briers rang the changes both tactically and through necessity, as they continue to have to contend with both short, and longer-term injuries and look to come up with a horses for courses game plan. With Dave Fairbrother missing his third game out of the last four, Toby Harrison was again at number eight with the returning Ethan Hall-Lyon and Sam Parker joining him in the back row. Tom Carleton was unavailable, so Tom Forster joined Jordan Dorrington in the centres with Alex Clayton continuing at full back. Young scrum half Will Wootton got his first full start, and played the full eighty, having time to show what a fine prospect he is.
On a pleasant, dry, and still day, Fylde showed a shift in their focus, looking to avoid the slow start that cost them the game at Rotherham a fortnight earlier. A solid first exit and greater use of the box kick to push Leeds back reaped rewards as they forced errors and kept Leeds pinned back. Leeds gained exits by forcing a penalty at the first scrum and led the early penalty count in general as an arm wrestle ensued. The game was open with both teams showing adventure but defences holding firm until they were able to force an error. Leeds had a couple of line outs 10 yards out but the throw in misfired and Fylde were able to clear.
Jordan Dorrington made a nice break from his own 22 and fed Sam Parker who burst 50 yards up the middle of the pitch, Will Wootton threw a long pass out to Adam Lanigan but Fylde could not clear out at the breakdown and Leeds turned the ball over. They advanced up the field themselves and earnt a penalty in front of the sticks on Fylde’s 22. Fylde had kept free scoring Leeds, with an average of 45 points a game this season, quiet so far, but stand-off Seremia Turagabeci knocked the kick over and finally, on 22 minutes, the first score had arrived.
Fylde were not daunted and continued to use the both the box kick and tactical kicking in general effectively. They chased one such kick aggressively on 25 minutes with a Leeds defender making a hash of an attempted offload. Jordan Dorrington pounced on the loose ball for the score, the conversion failed but Fylde were in front at 5-3. Back came Leeds with Fylde on the defensive for 5 minutes on their own 22. Toby Harrison put a great hit in to stop one attack only to be yellow carded, not for the hit but for repeated team infringements, when Leeds had not been camped in the red zone and no team warning appeared to have been given. The yellow seemed harsh and allowed Turagabeci to slot another penalty and nudge Leeds back in front 6-5.
Fylde then had a difficult and inaccurate 10-to-15-minute spell and Leeds made hay while the sun shone, which was to ultimately prove decisive. A poor read in defence left an overlap which was exploited to put the Leeds winger free for a 50-yard gallop. With the defence unable to re-organize Leeds recycled ball and Adebowale Ademakin crashed over for a converted try near the posts. A nasty head wound forced Corey Bowker off, as he was replaced by Alex Brooks, and Tye Raymont replaced Pete Altham in the other prop berth. Another 50-yard break by Leeds in the backs led to more defensive disarray, two penalties and a yellow card to Greg Smith. The catch and drive lineout gave Ademakin his second try in 5 minutes and, from competing on an even footing for 30 minutes, Fylde went into the break 20-5 down and would be starting the second half with only 13 men on the pitch.
Fylde withstood early 2nd half pressure until the 47th minute when, with Fylde still one man down, Leeds fashioned on overlap on the right wing for Henry MacNab to score and put Leeds further ahead at 25-5. Credit to Fylde, they managed to re-group, got back to their full complement, and made some changes. Matt Ashcroft and Tane Bentley replaced Olli Parkinson and Sam Parker in the pack and Fylde wrestled some possession and territory gains back.
A sharp break by Will Wootton put Leeds on the back foot and at the next phase skipper Ben Gregory ran a gorgeous line to slice through like the proverbial knife through butter to touch down near the posts. Greg Smith converted, and it was 25-12 to Leeds on 50 minutes. Fylde had chances to ramp up the pressure but a missed penalty kick to touch then an overthrown line out gave Leeds easy outs, as they forged up field again, and on 53 minutes MacNab got his brace with the only soft try of the day to put Leeds 30-12 up.
After this flurry of scoring, the last 27 minutes turned into a competitive tussle, defensive structures back in place for both teams, with all the prodding and probing coming to nought. Fylde really fronted up in this period, Tye Raymont in particular putting in a monster hit and some muscular carries. Ethan Hall-Lyon had a strong game on his return, Matt Garrod and Olli Parkinson’s line-out work as always was excellent and Will Wootton has zip and feistiness to his game, shown in a highland wrestling session he had with a much bigger fellow in a dust-up episode that nearly led to an-in melee during this period. Toby Harrison, as ever, was his usual 8 to 9 out of 10, Fylde’s most effective clear-out man for sure. The effort and endeavour 1 to 20 was there for all to see. No one can say Fylde do not put their all in, often against much heftier opponents.
In the last ten minutes Fylde camped out in the Leeds 22 and forced a raft of penalties, including three at the scrum and finally a yellow card to Tom Williams, with barely seconds left on the clock. A quick tap and go by Will Wootton at the last penalty created enough space for the overlap and Tom Forster touched down wide out on the left to give Fylde the last say as time ran out. 30-17 at final knockings meant it was the least points scored in a game by Leeds this season and one of their toughest tests so far, although Fylde coaches Loney & Briers will be looking for more than that of course.
There is no doubt this is a tough spell for Fylde, who have become accustomed to winning way more than they lose. The two recent defeats away at the top two teams, Rotherham and Leeds, in themselves, are not so much the issue, it is the three losses around them, in eminently winnable games, that are the disappointing aspect. The coaches and players will now have a week off before returning to the Woodlands on the 4th November for the visit of bottom of the table Huddersfield, when all concerned will look to halt this losing sequence and get the train back on the tracks.
Joint Head Coach Alex Loney said: “Overall, we’re much happier with the performance in comparison to previous weeks. I thought that a lot of the detail we’ve worked on in training was much improved especially in providing width in defence. We put a lot of field pressure on Leeds at various times in the match but unfortunately there were a couple of key moments where we let them off and gave them scoring opportunities.
“Going away to Leeds who are on a good run and unbeaten in the league was never going to be easy. But to get that level of competition where we went toe to toe with the Tykes for a good proportion of the game was excellent.
“We take a lot of confidence from that but ultimately we don’t want to be patting ourselves on the back for a good performance but not getting results. In the weeks ahead reversing this is firmly on our minds. But first things first, the performance was much better and the lads should be proud of that. It will give them confidence as we approach coming games.”
Click here for video coverage of Fylde’s three tries: https://twitter.com/i/status/1716092864822751380
Teams:
Fylde: Clayton; Turner, Dorrington (S. Carleton 51), Forster, Lanigan; Smith, Wootton; Bowker (Brooks 37), Gregory (c), Altham (Raymont 23), Garrod, Parkinson (Ashcroft 47), Hall-Lyon (Parkinson 65), Parker (Bentley 47), Harrison.
Leeds: Venables; MacNab, Dixon, Williams, Jukes; Turakabeci (Hardwick 65), Hardwick (Lucock 50); Williams, A. Brown (Yorke 64), Cordice (Grant 4), Collins, Kenyon (Ademakin 32/Nuu 41), Brady, Teague (Kenyon 68), E. Brown.
