Fylde vs Sheffield – Match Report by Tom Kelly
Full time 23-22 (HT 10-5)
Fylde edged out Sheffield by just a single point in an exciting and nervy encounter at the Woodlands Memorial Ground.
Tries from Valu Tane Bentley and Ben Turner, as well as three crucial penalties from Greg Smith, was enough to edge Fylde over the line in a match full of penalties. This was referee James O’Brien’s last of many visits to the Woodlands before retirement and he had a busy afternoon.
Sheffield scored three tries of their own, including a double for winger Chris Hooper, but it wasn’t to be for the South Yorkshire side against an effective and totally committed Fylde defence.
Heading into the match, Sheffield were one of the form teams in National Two (North) with 11 wins in their last 12 matches, 13 points ahead of Fylde and third in the table.
In the opening 10 minutes, the powerful Sheffield squad began by keeping possession well at the breakdown, with Fylde given very few chances to get onto the ball. But when they did, they didn’t do enough with it, often giving away possession at the lineouts, with four lost lineouts in the opening 15 minutes. The very impressive Sheffield skipper and lock forward Dom Parsons along with his 2nd row partner Archie Crapper were major impediments to clean lineout possession for the home side.
17 minutes in, and the first points of the day were scored through Sheffield’s Elliot Fisher. The visitors finally made a break past the Fylde defence, when William Smith knocked his defender out the way, running his way to the 22.
It then took one pass out wide to Fisher who put on the burners and had space to run and score for the first try of the afternoon. The scrum half missed the conversion, two points which might have been crucial at the end of the match.
Their lead lasted all of three minutes however, when winger Adam Lanigan made a startling break through the Sheffield defence before being brought down five metres away from the visitors’ line. The ball travelled out wide right, and one quick offload back inside gave Bentley enough space to power over. Smith added the conversion with an excellent kick deflecting in off the post to put Fylde into the lead for the first time.
Just before the 30 minute mark, Fylde stretched their lead when they opted for the posts, and Smith slotted away his first penalty of the day.
Chances followed for both sides, but neither team could capitalise on each other’s mistakes, with a number of handling errors at the set piece by both, leading to a point-less final ten minutes of the first half.
Fylde put Sheffield under pressure straight out of the blocks in the second half, forcing a knock-on in the try area, but yet again couldn’t make the most of their chance, losing the ball in the corner.
Seven minutes into the second half, and Sheffield were back attacking, Hooper scoring his first of the afternoon. Alfie Kimpton dummied his way past before sending the ball out to Hooper on the wing who snuck through and flew his way over the line, with Fisher converting to put the visitors ahead.
And Sheffield fully turned it around, when Hooper was back in just a minute later. This time it was Fisher who made a mazy run before an offload put Hooper through, who crawled his way over the line to give the visitors a nine point lead.
Fylde thought they had pulled one back, when they ended up in four vs one situation, with the try line looking in sight. The ball went out to Jordan Dorrington who looked like he was going to score but some last gasp defending dragged him into touch rather than over the line.
But they didn’t have to wait much longer to score their second try, when sixty minutes in, a penetrative break by the young flanker Freddie Deeks down the left set winger BenTurner free near the touchline and he cut apart the visitors defence like a knife through butter, and he made the most of it, speeding under the posts to put the hosts back within just two points. Deeks, on his first starting appearance for Fylde, was named at the end of the game as the home side’s Man of the Match by their coaches. In truth, it could have given to any number of players who all contributed to a true team performance.
Fylde then took back the lead when Smith scored his second penalty in front of the posts, but Sheffield bit right back with a penalty of their own, which Fisher calmly slotted away.
With just ten minutes to go, Fylde won a penalty at the breakdown, and opted to go for the posts, despite only just being in the Sheffield half. Smith stood up, put his boot through the ball, and cleared the bar superbly from 48 metres out to give Fylde the lead with not long to go.
A nervy final ten minutes begun to play out, with the majority of it being played in Fylde’s half. It was made all the more tense when Fylde were reduced to 14 men with three minutes to go after Smith received a yellow card for a deliberate knock on. This was the only blemish on an otherwise immaculate performance by the fly-half whose goal kicking was both crucial and faultless and resulted in a personal haul of 13 points.
Fylde defended bravely for the final few minutes, taking time before each penalty before kicking the ball into touch to confirm their narrow win to the delight of the home supporters.
Fylde remain fifth in the table, and is now just a single point behind Wharfdale above them. They have just five games remaining, and next take on Otley away from home on March 16, before welcoming Hull Ionians to the Woodlands the following weekend.
Click here for Chris Farrow’s fine match photos.
And click here for video coverage of Fylde’s tries.
Fylde: 1 Corey Bowker, 2 Ben Gregory (c), 3 Peter Altham, 4 Olli Parkinson, 5 Matt Garrod, 6 Freddie Deeks, 7 Tane Bentley, 8 Toby Harrison; 9 Will Wootton, 10 Greg Smith, 11 Ben Turner, 12 Sam Stott, 13 Freddie Reader, 14 Adam Lanigan, 15 Jordan Dorrington.
16 Alex Brooks, 17 Robbie Kincart, 18 Tye Raymont, 19 Ben Gould, 20 Tom Forster.
1 Ben Whitney, 2 Rhodri Campbell, 3 Jake Hicklin, 4 Archie Crapper, 5 Dom Parsons (c), 6 Alex Fawdry, 7 Jason Hignell, 8 Ryan Burrows; 9 Eliot Fisher, 10 Callum Posa, 11 Chris Hooper, 12 Will Smith, 13 James Flint, 14 Cammy Catleugh, 15 Alfie Kimpton.
16 Reece Bartlett, 17 George Rogers, 18 Charlie Flinders, 19 Matty Adcock, 20 Gregor Napier
