FYLDE 17 DARLINGTON MOWDEN PARK 17: report by Will Judd
Fylde held Darlington Mowden Park to a draw at the Woodlands, despite late pressure by the visitors and missed opportunities by both teams. It turned out to be a fine, competitive game between two evenly matched teams, probably the best performance of the season for the home side.
The visitors, who are 2nd in the National Two (North) league table, started the game strongest, controlling much of the ball and momentum. This became an issue for Fylde and after ten minutes they found themselves on their own try line thanks to back-to-back quickly taken penalties. Darlington managed to muscle their way over the line but a huge defensive effort saw the ball held up. This was a sign of things to come as Fylde’s defence was often heroic through the 80 minutes.
It seemed to be the wake up call the Woodlands needed as their team hit back in fine style. A few phases up the road and it was Fylde’s turn to attack. A loose ball ended up being a blessing and the scuffle created holes in the defence for a line break. The final offload from centre Tom Forster was perfect and Ben Turner was in at the corner for his first try of the game. Danny Cassidy’s attempted conversion drifted wide but Fylde were still five points to the good.
This lasted until just after the half hour mark when Cassidy was hit by a crunching tackle on halfway. The spilled ball was hacked towards the Clubhouse and lock Kieran Forbes just beat the home defenders to get the touchdown. The conversion was missed by fullback Flynn Ward on a very damp pitch and the teams went into the changing rooms at half-time level on 5-5.
Second half began and Fylde turned up immediately. An awesome start to the half saw them deep within the opposition 22. Danny Cassidy ran a clever line to break the ranks and after a quick juggle of the ball he got it down left of the posts for his fifth try in his initial impressive season for the Club. 10-5.
Again, however, the lead did not last. Ten minutes later and it was Darlington MP with the phases in the opposition 22. The ball was thrown wide to winger James Bent who twisted and turned and flew past the Fylde defence to score what was, in the end, a rather soft try. This was also the first score to be converted which meant Fylde had half an hour to turn around the 10-12 deficit.
Not that they would need 30 minutes because the ball was taken back moments after the restart and was moved along the backline. A superb running and passing move ended in the hands of Ben Turner. The winger flew down the right touchline but still had work to do when two defenders rushed back. Turner kept his composure and stepped inside both of them to score and regain the lead. Cassidy converted well and the Woodlands crowd cheered louder than it has for some time.
It looked like the boys may have been able to hold on for a notable victory but with ten to go Darlington gained control. A loose Fylde lineout, which wasn’t the first, gifted the ball to the visitors and the pressure was on. The defence was good until a man stepped out of the line and the gap opened right up for powerful centre Liam Checksfield to dive over to score. To Fylde supporters’ collective joy, the conversion was missed and the game sat at 17 each.
From then on it was as tense a match as has been seen on the Fylde coast for some while with both teams desperate to take the win. Mowden Park got close, too close for the supporters’ blood pressure, especially in the last few minutes where a penalty was awarded in a kickable spot. The crowd held its collective breath but erupted when the ball flew comfortably right of the posts.
Due to the pressure when the clock went red, fly-half Will Hunt was in no mood to take any more risks and kicked the ball to touch to protect the two points they would earn from a hard-fought draw. Drawn games are often disappointing for both teams but in this case it was a fair ending to an excellent contest. In many ways, the outstanding player around which most of DMP’s play revolves is their long time standout flanker Joe Craggs. He was everywhere, especially in the lineout where his side was dominant.
Fylde’s next test is to try to maintain their 100% away record when they travel to Otley for what no doubt will be another tough encounter. Winning four out of four away from home isn’t that common for the Lancastrians and they will have noticed that Otley had a fine 25-34 victory at Preston Grasshoppers this weekend.
The reporter’s Man of the Match: Danny Cassidy
Fylde Coaches’ choice: Tom Forster
FYLDE: 15 Clayton; 14 Turner, 13 Cassidy, 12 Forster, 11 Lanigan (Macaulay 70); 10 Hunt, 9 Maguire; 1 Bowker (Rudkin 23,, King 59), 2 Trippier (Sutcliffe 25), 3 King (Altham 23, Bowker 59), 4 WaltonB, 5 Greenwood, 6 Quinn (Morgan 66), 7 Harrison (c), 8 Fairbrother.
DARLINGTON MOWDEN PARK: 15 Ward (Dyer 62); 14 Callaghan (Johnston 66), 13 Checksfield, 12 Mackenzie, 11 Bent; 10 Newton, 9 Douglas; 1 Barron, 2 Wood, 3 Clark, 4 Coulston, 5 Forbes (Uzokwe 31), 6 Thompson, 7 Craggs, 8 Butterill.
Non-playing replacements: Vaioleti, Booth.
