FYLDE 56-29 OTLEY: match report by Will Judd
Fylde welcomed Otley to the Woodlands Memorial Ground and after a fitting tribute on the eve of Remembrance Sunday, Fylde turned their attention to the task ahead, with the aim being to secure a sixth win on the bounce against a physical Otley side. Lock forward Matt Garrod led the team out on his 150th 1st XV appearance for the Club to great appreciation from the Woodlands crowd.
Things started well for the visitors thanks to an Ed Crossland penalty kick which was easily put between the posts by the fly-half 15 minutes into the game.
However, this lead was eradicated a few moments later when home skipper Toby Harrison blasted through a handful of defenders to finish off some strong Fylde phases in Otley’s 22. The conversion was straight in line with the posts for Patrick Bishop, who gave Fylde the early 7-3 lead.
This momentum continued when two minutes later Freddie Reader did what Freddie Reader does, breaking Otley’s line, setting up impressive young Sale Sharks hooker Tom Davis to score. Another Bishop conversion meant Fylde had a converted-try-cushion, with the score at 14-3.
Five Minutes before half time, the home side really extended the lead, scoring two tries within two minutes of each other. The first came in the form of no 8 Michael Walton, later named Fylde’s Man of the Match, powering home after multiple forward-carrying phases which eventually broke the visitor’s down.
The second then came after a scruffy restart for Otley which saw the entire team almost fall asleep as the ball bounced. This allowed for hooker Tom Davis to claim the ball and forget which position he was playing, throwing a world-class dummy like a back could only dream off. This gave him valuable meters, before the offload was made to Jordan Dorrington who touched down between the posts. Both kicks were converted neatly by Bishop, really stretching Fylde’s lead.
It was looking bad for the visitors heading into half time, but a glimmer of hope came when Will Derry broke the Fylde defensive line to score, rounded off by a solid conversion via Crossland to leave the half-time score at 28-10.
The second half promised to have tries galore, much like most of Fylde’s games this season, and indeed it did. It only took one minute for Fylde to score again and it came through prop Corey Bowker who muscled his way to the line after a couple of phases.
Then it was time for Freddie Reader who received the ball on his own try line and turned on the afterburners, outpacing the entire Otley team along the right touchline, dropping a shoulder to beat the fullback and touching down for a ‘try of the season’ contender. With the crowd still in disbelief, Patrick Bishop struck a superb conversion from the right-hand corner, bolstering Fylde’s lead to 42-10.
Otley weren’t done with the afternoon though, despite the 32-point deficit. The away side gained back some momentum 15 minutes into the second half thanks to a Michael Graham try in the corner, converted by Crossland.
The next came when replacement scrum-half Joe Rowntree dived into the corner after intercepting a poor Fylde pass, but this one was not converted.
The final Otley try of the game came for them in similar fashion when Sam Taylor finished in the corner. After the conversion, the away team were within two tries again at 42-29, giving them a chance of an almighty comeback with ten minutes to play.
But this small flicker of hope for Otley was removed when, against the run of play from the previous 20 minutes, centre Alex Clayton calmed Fylde nerves, scoring off the back of some neat passing play. Not even a yellow card for scrum-half Alex Gaughan could stop the home side, as replacement winger Cam Smith grabbed the ball in a super interception 30m out from his line and had enough legs to wade off the Otley fullback along the left touchline, scoring the last try of the game.
Bishop converted again and kept his 100% off the tee for the afternoon, leaving the score at 56-29, another superb try-scoring afternoon at the Woodlands.
Reporter’s Man of the Match: Freddie Reader
Fylde Coaches MoM: Mike Walton
Click here for Chris Farrow’s album of action photographs.
FYLDE: 15 Freddie Reader (Cam Smith 46); 14 Ben Taylor, 13 Sam Stott (Tom Forster 50), 12 Alex Clayton, 11 Jordan Dorrington; 10 Patrick Bishop, 9 Alex Gaughan; 1 Corey Bowker (Chris Rudkin 45), 2 Tom Davies, 3 Peter Altham (Olly Trippier 60), 4 Greg Morgan (Ben Dorrington 60), 5 Matt Garrod, 6 Lewis Quinn, 7 Toby Harrison, 8 Michael Walton.
OTLEY: 15 Jacob Holmes (Joe Rowntree 38); 14 Michael Graham, 13 Will Derry, 12 Tom Parnell, 11 Sam Taylor; 10 Ed Crosland, 9 Sam Connor; 1 Jason Moss (Billy Nicholls 16, Moss 65), 2 Harry Butler (Tom Coates 31, Butler 60), 3 Tom Baxter (Noah Greenald 25, Baxter 60), 4 Alex Johnson, 5 Ian Jarman, 6 Rhys Green, 7 Charlie Mears (Conor Mullin 31), 8 Finnlan Warren-Lambert.
Attendance: 550