Huddersfield 32 v Fylde 34: match report by Simon Taylor
Fylde overcame challenges both on and off the field and produced a stirring comeback to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat at Huddersfield on Saturday. Trailing 32-17 with 15 minutes to go and staring down the barrel of a third straight defeat, they produced an amazing 5-minute spell to score two excellent tries, both converted by Greg Smith, with Smith then showing he has ice in his veins as he knocked over the game winning penalty on 71 minutes. Fylde then showed the composed game management that was missing the previous week to avoid giving Huddersfield a way back into it.
The result was tough on Huddersfield, who lost late on the week before by exactly the same score. They fully deserved their two losing bonus points, but it is wins they need as they sit in bottom place 10 points adrift. A strange game in glorious sun but on a heavy pitch under the picturesque setting of Lockwood Park’s viaduct saw Fylde outscore the hosts by 5 tries to 4, with both teams having 3 players sin-binned, in
a game that was fiercely competitive and physical, but never overly so.
The first challenge Fylde coaches Alex Loney & Chris Briers faced was getting a 20-man squad assembled, given there was nearly that same number of regulars missing. Skipper Ben Gregory was sandwiched in between Corey Bowker and Pete Altham in the front row, with Freddie Deeks asked to play out of position at second row, in only his second start for the first XV, joining Matt Garrod, who was Fylde’s only real line out option. The latest man to start at 8 was the old warhorse Scott Rawlings, with Sam Parker and Tane Valu Bentley the small in stature but stout-hearted flankers. Ben Gould came back in to partner Greg Smith in the half-backs, Tom Forster and Sam Stott were the centre pair, with Adam Lanigan and Ben Turner on the wings. Fylde were able to welcome Jordan Dorrington back at 15, with Alex Clayton joined by three newcomers on the bench, Cam Railton, Robbie Kincart and Joseph Osivwemu. Coach Briers even had to name himself as the last man on the pine, bringing the average age of the replacements up just a tad.
The early exchanges were ‘even stevens’ before Ed Barber knocked over a penalty on 14 minutes to open the scoring for the home team. Back came Fylde on 20 minutes with the first try of the game as good line out ball from Garrod saw two quick wide passes put Ben Turner in wide out, conversion missed but Fylde were 5-3 up. Fylde then had another double whammy moment, when they missed touch with their own penalty, gave one away, were pinned back and then knocked on going for the intercept, Sam Parker the first of the 6 yellow cards on 24 minutes. Double whammy became triple as Scott Rawlings was yellowed two minutes later for not rolling out of the tackle area, and, not for the first time this season, Fylde were 13 playing 15. Huddersfield soon took advantage with a big miss pass in the Fylde back line picked off by Charlie Foreman who ran in under the sticks. Ethan Myers converted, and Huddersfield were 10-5 ahead.
That became 15-5 on 33 minutes when the under-staffed Fylde scrum was shoved off the ball, it was spun wide, and Lewis Quinn scored in the corner. Fylde got their men back and forced some possession and penalties near the home line. Tane Bentley was hit high, and Huddersfield were given their first yellow of the day. Fylde prodded and probed and were rewarded when Greg Smith dummied and squeezed through for a try in the corner. After struggling for a fair share of possession and territory Fylde were able to get into the sheds at the break only one score behind at 15-10.
Huddersfield started the second half strongly, big physical ball carrying a feature of their play, and this earnt them a penalty on 44 minutes which Myers knocked over to make it 18-10. A neat break saw them back up towards Fylde’s line just 2 minutes later, Jordan Dorrington snuffed out the danger with a fine covering tackle, but he was adjudged to have ripped the ball while on the ground, and Fylde had a man in the bin yet again. Scrums and penalties followed with the wonderfully named Francis Entressengle, who had an excellent game, the man to crash over. Myers converted and the home team were creating some daylight at 25-10 up.
Fylde needed to respond and this they did 5 minutes later, as they chose to tap and go a penalty deep in their own half. The ball was spun wide left then came back into midfield, Smith fed a lovely inside ball to Adam Lanigan in off his wing, he broke the defensive line, drew the last man and Sam Parker had the legs to make the line for a lovely team try. Smith knocked over his first conversion of the day and the home team’s lead was reduced to 25-17. Dorrington returned from the bin and Fylde were now upping the
tempo, stressing the home defence, and forcing penalties. Ben Gould’s quick tap and go was halted as Huddersfield’s Ed Barber was adjudged to have blocked him within the 10, and Barber was the latest yellow. However, Fylde could not capitalise as they overthrew two lineouts in good positions and conceded penalties, Huddersfield piggy-backing all the way up field and setting up their own line out. Their set-piece execution was more on-point as Ethan Myers scored from the catch and drive, converting his own try, putting Huddersfield ahead by 15 points again at 32-17.
With only 15 minutes left Fylde knew they could not concede again and hope to win. They collected their focus and raised their game to a level that Huddersfield could not cope with in a devastating 5-minute spell. They won ball, kept ball, and the pace and precision of their attack came together in sustained fashion at last. Matt Garrod freed his hands through the midfield tackle and popped the ball up for the supporting Adam Lanigan, again choosing the perfect time to come in off his wing, and he raced in for the try, converted by Smith to get Fylde back to 32-24. A try bonus point was in the bag, but Fylde were in the zone and keen for more than that, and hit Huddersfield with back-to-back scores, and the best try of the game. From deep in their own territory skipper Ben Gregory’s big pass put Turner clear on the wing, he cut back in, took the tackle, and offloaded off the deck to the supporting Alex Clayton, who raced in from 40 yards out. Smith converted again and suddenly Fylde were just a point in arrears at 32-31 down.
Fylde sensed the game was theirs if they could stay on top, and the pace and accuracy of their game was creating all sorts of problems for Huddersfield. Another sweeping team move with Turner and Gould making incisive breaks led to two penalty advantages on 71 minutes. Smith chose the further out but better angle of the two, called for the kicking tee, and showed his composure to slot the penalty and put Fylde in front at 34-32. Just when it looked like the game might have gone, Fylde blitzed Huddersfield
with an excellent spell of running rugby.
With nine minutes left the game could still have swung back the other way, but Fylde now showed good game management to deny the battling Huddersfield team a way back in. Huddersfield were desperate to get their hands on the ball, and this saw them get on the wrong side of the referee. Liam Parfitt was the sixth and final player to be yellow carded and Fylde wisely chose not to kick penalties to touch but to keep
possession and run the clock down. This they managed to do, for a hard-fought win that had seemed unlikely when they were 15 points down with just 15 minutes to go.
This was a team performance with Corey Bowker and Pete Altham playing a full 80 minutes and working tirelessly. Freddie Deeks showed up strongly in only his second start, in an unfamiliar role, and Sam Parker again punched well above his weight. The travelling subs who didn’t get on due to how tight the game was deserve credit for supporting the cause and Fylde showed their quality and character to overcome adversity. When Scott Rawlings limped off after putting in a great shift, Sam Stott ‘Quinnell’ went in at number 8 in the scrums to show his versatility, Stott once again ran and tackled hard all day. Turner, Lanigan and Dorrington as the back 3 had their best collective day at the office yet and if there were enough column inches everybody would get the shout out they deserve. Fylde now have a week off and will hope to get some bodies back for when they face Sheffield at home in 2 weeks.
Coach Alex Loney said: ‘We are really happy to get the win, not a vintage performance but we have had a lot of disruption to deal with and Huddersfield showed some decent form the previous week. It was a bit hard to get pace into the game on a heavy pitch but once we got into some flow, we showed the threats we had. Plenty of points down with time running out we showed mental toughness and lots of skill to claw back the deficit and get ahead, then great game management to see the game out, massive credit to the players.’
Fylde: Dorrington, Turner, Forster, Stott, Lanigan, Smith, Gould, Bowker, Gregory (c), Altham, Garrod, Deeks, Parker, Rawlings (Clayton), Bentley.
Unused subs: Briers, Railton, Kincart, Osivwemu
Huddersfield: Workman, Foreman, Nicholson, Horsfall (Quinn/Walker), Collins, Barber, Harrison, Thompson, Myers (Moore), Rollins (Sanderson), Pearson, Barnard (Dawson), Entressengle, Haywood, Parfitt.
