Fylde 37 Billingham 11: report by Will Judd
Fylde battled to victory against both the weather and Billingham on Saturday to remain unbeaten in the National 2 (North) division. The Woodlands was treated to a gritty affair which saw both sides struggle with discipline and fitness in what turned out to be a controversial yet enthralling game.
It was a less than optimal start for Fylde when only a few moments in skipper Toby Harrison was forced off through an injury around his midriff. However, replacement Greg Morgan was a worthy replacement for the home side.
Despite the injury, early pressure forced a driving maul deep in the Billingham half. The pack was far too strong for the visitors and Sam Parker drove over the line for Fylde’s first of the game. The conditions scuttled Will Hunt’s kicking routine more than once, culminating in the conversion being missed. Billingham opened their account in the 13th minute when their fly-half Peter Evans kicked a penalty to reduce the deficit.
Things got better for Fylde when just shy of the 15-minute mark Billingham’s Adam Brown was sent to the sin bin when he tackled Tom Forster off the ball. Thanks to the man advantage, the Woodlanders were able to continue their early dominance in the 17th min when a Billingham lineout went far too long and fresh signing Gabe Maguire was deadly alert to steal a try in the right-hand corner. Given the angle and wind, the conversion was borderline impossible and the score sat at 10-3.
The gap did close somewhat after Evans bagged another penalty kick in the 19th min due to a troublesome Fylde restart, but the home side bounced back twice to silence the visitors. The first came courtesy of David Fairbrother’s monstrous hand off and subsequent offload to winger Leo Gilliland who raced into the left corner.
Only a few minutes later and Fairbrother did it again, opening the gap for Maguire to swerve past defenders and cruise between the posts from 35m out for what turned out to be the try of the day. Will Hunt finally found his shooting boots and scored the first conversion of the game to give Fylde a healthy 22-6 lead after 30 minutes.
The remainder of the first half was better for Billingham though, especially after Fairbrother was sent to the bin in the 32nd min for a high tackle. The subsequent penalty near the Fylde line ended in Billingham No 8 Anthony Jackson diving over Fylde’s try line to score his team’s one and only try of the game.
The final few minutes of the half were somewhat controversial when Fylde replacement lock Greg Morgan sustained a nasty knee injury during a ruck. The Referee and his assistant official were in the best positions and deemed the cleanout aggressive but legal. Unfortunately, that was a sign of things to come in the second half as the weather became almost biblical, making playing good handling rugby almost impossible.
The opening ten of the second half was still strong for the home side however, thanks to Will Hunt notching a brilliant penalty kick from the halfway, almost identical to his score against Hoppers a week prior. This was then followed by Maguire completing his hat trick after scooping up a counter-attacking grubber which ripped through Billingham’s defence.
Late hits, high tackles and scuffles were the order of the remainder of the game, which all came to a head at the hour mark when the action ‘crescendoed’. Former Billingham player Ben Walton was involved in an altercation with an ex-teammate off the ball. Whether anything was said to the referee or the opposition player from Walton after this is unclear, but most people at the Woodlands were baffled when the Fylde man received a red card.
Fylde were left with 14 men to complete the game and had to do some serious reorganisation of their pack despite the match being more or less sewn up. Prop Corey Bowker came off the bench and gave a very passable impression of an all action flanker. Hardly surprisingly, with Olly Trippier also introduced and Chris ‘Beefy’ Rudkin and Pete Altham still in the front row, then the Fylde pack began pushing the visitors off the ball in the scrummages.
Despite all the controversy in the second half the game was finished on a much lighter note when young replacement hooker James Sutcliffe scored his debut try for the senior team to truly round off Fylde’s first bonus-point victory at 37-11.
But the win came at a considerable cost given the injuries to skipper Toby Harrison, Sam Parker and Greg Morgan, plus the red card.
Fylde joint head coach Chris Briers was quietly delighted with his team’s performance, going on to say that: “In the 1st half, we were well in control. We had a lot more possession than we did in the last game and we can tell from the tries we scored. I mean, towards the end of the second half it got a bit scrappy and obviously the game was done so there wasn’t much rugby played in the last 20 minutes. The heavens opened today and we played some pretty good rugby, particularly in the first half” he continued.
Despite the edginess of the game at times, Fylde remain unbeaten in this current National 2 North campaign, sitting fourth in the table and they look forward to the visit of Hull RUFC to the Woodlands next Saturday.
Man of the Match: Gabe Maguire
Attendance: 346
Click here for Chris Farrow’s album of excellent action photos.
FYLDE: Dorrington (Clayton 58, Harrison 66); Turner, Forster, Stott, Gilliland; Hunt, Maguire; Rudkin, Parker (Sutcliffe 37), Altham, Walton B, Greenwood, Walton M, Harrison (Morgan 3, Bowker 37), Fairbrother (Trippier 66).
BILLINGHAM: Husband; Horner, Groark, Wilson L, Scarborough; Evans (Kirby 27, Wilson 58), Lane; Brown (Clark 66), Hyndman, Clark (Spoors 43), Browell, White (Wilson J 60), Hill, Campbell, Jackson (Kirby 71).
Referee: Gavin Jones
