Rossendale 10 Fylde 57
Fylde put in one of their best performances of the season at Marl Pits to eventually overwhelm a hard working Rossendale team who competed well but couldn’t contain the incisive attacks of the visitors. Nine tries to one was the measure of the difference between the teams. The result was the sixth successive away win for Fylde as they maintained their chase of the top four clubs in National Two (North).
Although in recent years numerous Fylde teams have made the journey to Rawtenstall, this was the first occasion that the clubs have met in league action at 1st team level. Former Rossendale Head Coach Mark Nelson, now Fylde’s Chairman of Rugby, looked on with, maybe, a mix of emotions. The condition of the pitch and the weather was excellent, so different from a week earlier when the Woodlands ground suffered from hours of rain and turned into a mud bath. The Fylde backs certainly thrived on the firm surface as they ran through their repertoire of attacking moves with elan and with the foundation laid by a hard working pack of forwards.
The visitors began the game playing up the slope and started in the most positive way. In the 3rd minute the forwards secured lineout ball and launched a swift move down their left which finished with winger Adam Lanigan scoring in the corner. Danny Cassidy’s attempted conversion drifted wide.
The Stags were also soon on the scoreboard when fullback Daniel Holland kicked a penalty in the 7th minute to reduce the deficit to 3-5. In the 13th minute Holland was guilty of a body check on Fylde scrumhalf Gabe Maguire near the Stags try line and the referee awarded a penalty try and a yellow card to the fullback.
Fylde took advantage of the extra man when in the 22nd minute they stole a Rossendale lineout and quick work by Maguire set no 8 David Fairbrother free and he sent out a long pass to Lanigan who notched his second try scoring once more in the corner. Cassidy was again wide with his conversion attempt but his side had a 3-17 lead. The Fylde coaches replaced both starting props, Chris Rudkin and Rob King, with Corey Bowker and Adam Lewis after 26 mins.
Rossendale responded with a neat attack which saw Valu Tane Bentley twist through a tackle and the flanker created space for winger Junior Sa’u to get over the whitewash in the corner. Fly-half Callum Whelan, standing in for Holland who was still in the sin bin, converted the try very well from the touchline to bring his side right back into the contest at 10-17 down.
With halftime approaching a decisive five minutes for Fylde saw firstly clean lineout ball secured and centre Sam Stott smashed his way through the home defence to score and Cassidy converted easily. Just three minutes later Fylde attacked once more, moving the ball left and right before a long pass to right winger Leo Gilliland set him up to brush off the final defender to score in the left corner. The whistle blew with score at 10-29 at the break. Gilliland had started his first season at the Woodlands impressively but injury led to him missing six weeks. He certainly would have enjoyed his day in East Lancashire.
The second stanza began with a period of rather untidy play by both teams as Fylde looked to extend their advantage playing down the famous slope. They had replaced centre Stott and lock Will Greenwood with Alex Clayton and Mike Walton at the interval. In the 55th minute Fylde put some pattern into the game and they extended their lead with fly-half Will Hunt orchestrating a move involving replacement centre Alex Clayton and Hunt looped around to score a good try. Danny Cassidy converted for a 10-36 lead.
In the 60th minute a dust up in midfield led to the Rossendale skipper Whelan being shown a yellow card. Fylde ‘tapped and went’ immediately from the penalty and Gilliland finished off with his second try. Cassidy converted once again and Fylde’s lead was stretching away at 10-43.
Fylde used their strong bench productively and their last two scores were contributed by replacement forwards. In the 68th minute, the Stags were defending deep in their own half and attempting to run the ball out of defence there was a knock on. Flanker Lewis Quinn swooped on the loose ball and drove over the line for his side’s 8th try. Cassidy was enjoying the 2nd half down the hill and made his 4th successful conversion.
The final score was in the 77th minute when more pressure near the Rossendale line finished with back five forward Mike Walton driving over for his first try of the season. Cassidy added the extras to conclude the afternoon.
This was clearly a ‘whole squad’ effort so it’s rather invidious to pick out individuals. However, the efforts of Leo Gilliland on his return after injury and flanker Matt Ashcroft, whose 100th 1st XV appearance this was, both deserve ‘mentions in despatches’. It was also excellent to see Greg Morgan make the starting line-up and putting in a hard shift since returning after injury. The coaches’ MoM was Gabe Maguire on his first return to his local club since joining Fylde in the summer.
The result, and especially the accuracy and consistency of the performances of the Fylde squad in November & December (four wins and a draw), will give them great heart in the local derby with Preston Grasshoppers when they visit the Woodlands on Saturday in the big Christmas game.
ROSSENDALE: Holland; Babarinsa, Durcan, Burns (Hill 75), Sa’u; Whelan ©, Wooton; Spencer, Wilkinson (Bentley 78), Probert (Taylor 36, Probert 75), Clark, Fourie (Peel 46, Asif 65), Berry, Bentley (Fontaine 60), Ioane.
FYLDE: Cassidy; Gilliland, Forster, Stott (Clayton 41), Lanigan, Hunt (Greenwood 60), Maguire; Rudkin (Bowker 26, Rudkin 65), Trippier, King (Lewis 26, King 65), Morgan, Greenwood (Walton M 41), Ashcroft, Harrison, Fairbrother (Quinn 54).
