Fylde 27-32 Rotherham Titans Match Report by Stuart McCracken
Fylde started strongly and took a well deserved 20-17 lead into the break, but two tries after the interval from Rotherham put them in the ascendency with twenty minutes to go, leading 32-20.
Valu Tane Bentley’s sixth try of the season late on gave Fylde hope, but ultimately the Lancashire side came up short, coming away from the fixture with just one losing bonus point.
Fylde made a lightning quick start getting to the edge where Adam Lanigan showed his pace before passing inside to Bentley who popped it onto Will Wootton, who looked to be away, but he couldn’t catch the pass, spilling it forward.
It was the visitors from Yorkshire who got the first points of the day, with Lloyd Hayes slotting a penalty kick in the 6th minute, after Pete Altham failed to roll away at the ruck.
Fylde responded brilliantly, with prop Corey Bowker going over two minutes later. The front rower picked a defence splitting run near the ruck to go through from 30m out and dive over the line. Greg Smith added the extras to give Fylde a four point lead.
But like their Lancashire counterparts, Rotherham bounced back quickly with fellow front rower Charlie Capps touching down under the posts. The loosehead prop received the ball after two brilliant offloads from the Titans to break through, before racing under the posts. Hayes slotted the conversion to put Rotherham three ahead.
Fylde were much the stronger side in the early part of the game and looked certain to respond when they had kicks to the corner, but on both attacking occasions the hosts coughed up possession or gave away a needless penalty just as pressure was building in Rotherham’s 22.
The hosts were in a very promising position in the 26th minute when Sam Stott raced away until Harry Newborn deliberately knocked the ball on to stop Fylde continuing their attack. This led to the flanker receiving a yellow card and Fylde looked to have made the most of this man advantage when Toby Harrison bounced a Titans defender before burrowing towards the line, but he unfortunately was stopped inches away from the try line.
Fylde’s attack continued until they tried an inside offload, which didn’t go to hand leading to Rotherham’s athletic lock John Okafor picking up the loose ball up and running 70m to score the Titans’ second try of the afternoon. Hayes converted the simple kick to extend their lead.
After all their efforts before Okafor’s try it could have been easy for Fylde to feel sorry for themselves, but they got straight back on the offensive and were finally rewarded for their play in the 35th minute Scott Rawlings went over.
This was the centre’s second try in as many games and it all came from a Tom Burrow break in the middle of the park. The second-row hit a brilliant flat line to break away before feeding Jordan Dorrington, who raced inside before finding a free Rawlings to dive over. Smith slotted the conversion to put Fylde three points behind with five minutes until the break.
It was the trusty boot of Smith, which enabled Fylde to go in three points ahead at the interval, as the fly-half nailed two penalties in as many minutes, the first of which was from 40m out. The second penalty led to a sin binning for Rotherham’s Jack Townsend, who was cautioned for a high tackle, something the Titans were penalised for on countless occasions in the first period.
Rotherham, who sit second in National Two North, came out with renewed energy in the second period, levelling things up with a Hayes penalty in the 47th minute.
It would get better for the Yorkshire outfit when half-time substitute JB Bruzulier went in in the corner. The replacement scrum-half found space on the short side of the ruck and burrowed his way over the try line to give Rotherham the lead once again. Hayes, who had missed a penalty minutes earlier, stepped up and nailed the conversion from out wide.
Titans, who were on a five game winning streak, extended their lead in the 58th minute with their bonus point score. Luke Cole, their substitute hooker, went over from a driving maul as the Titans started to show their strength. Hayes couldn’t convert the try though.
Freddie Reader came on just after the hour mark to make his home debut for Fylde, after scoring on his debut away at Sheffield RUFC earlier in the season. The winger was part of Fylde’s resurgence in the last quarter, which seen them have a lot more of the ball than the third quarter.
Despite having chances to score it took Fylde until the 76th minute to finally cross the whitewash, with Bentley powering over from short range to set up a nail-biting last couple of minutes. Smith added the conversion meaning it was a five point game, but Fylde were unable to land the sucker punch blow to Rotherham, who walked away from the Woodlands with a bonus point win.
Fylde came away from the fixture with just the one losing bonus point meaning they were leaped frogged in National Two North by Wharfedale, who now sit fourth ahead of Fylde. Fylde’s next test is a trip to Tynedale on February 17.
Fylde Man of the match: Corey Bowker
Click here for Chris Farrow’s album of action photographs.
Fylde team:
Dorrington, Lanigan (Reader 57), Stott, Rawlings (Forster 41), Turner, Smith, Wootton, Bowker (Brooks 77), Gregory, Altham, Parkinson, Burrow, Ashcroft, Bentley (Parker 66), Harrison (Bentley 76).
Non-playing replacement: Raymont.
Rotherham Titans:
Townsend, Tanumi, Hayes, Dunne, Taylor (Bruzulier 40), Milner, Metcalfe, Capps, Bergmanas (Cole 62), Ward (Kivalu 27), Okafor, Smith, Payne (Kay 64) , Newborn, Poole (Bustin 27)
Attendance: 495
