Hull 34 v Fylde 31: report by Simon Taylor
Fylde were handed their first road-trip defeat of the season by a resurgent Hull outfit who put back-to-back wins together for the first time as they fight to get out of relegation zone. Fylde outscored the hosts 5 tries to 4 but after a high scoring first half where they trailed by 1 point, a tighter second half with just a try apiece saw Fylde fall just short as a last-minute try was disallowed for an offence.
Fylde’s pre-match prep was disrupted when winger Leo Gilliland was injured in the warm-up. With scrum half Ben Gould the only back line replacement, he started at 9, Gabe Maguire moving to the right wing, a tough ask, especially defensively. With Alex Clayton unavailable and Sam Stott still injured Fylde welcomed Jordan Dorrington back for the first time in 3 months as he formed a centre partnership with Danny Cassidy. Dave ‘Talisman’ Fairbrother was unavailable meaning Mike Walton got a rare start in his preferred position at number eight and hooker Rob Williamson made his first start of the season.
Despite the disruption and not having played for a month Fylde started strongly. Good line out work in his own half by Williamson led to hard carries from the Walton brothers before Will Hunt’s neat kick over the top was re-gathered by Danny Cassidy who kicked ahead again. Adam Lanigan gathered the second kick, only to be bundled into touch 10 yards out from the Hull line. Hull’s hooker missed his jumper, Gould swooped on the ball and popped it to Mike Walton who crashed over for the opening try, goaled by Cassidy for a 7-0 lead after 7 minutes. Back came Hull with a penalty from full back Reece Dean on 9 minutes before they took the lead on 11 minutes. A scrum penalty was kicked deep into Fyle territory and off the top line-out ball allowed hard running number 8 Paulos Latu to put Fylde on the back foot. Quick ball was recycled and with Fylde’s back line still getting used to each other centre Tom Minns sliced through for the try wide left, nicely converted by Dean, 10-7 to Hull.
Hull’s game plan was becoming clear, hard carries and box kicks, which Fylde struggled to field all day, in no small part due to the absence of Fairbrother, who performs the lion share of that responsibility when he is on the field. Hull drove deep again only for Dorrington to snuff out the final chip through for a goal line drop out. Penalties eased the pressure and allowed Fylde to set up a 5-yard line-out. Williamson hit skipper Toby Harrison, the catch and drive was set up and Mike Walton then span off the back of the maul, bounced out of the first tackle and dived over for his, and Fylde’s, second try. Cassidy’s conversion hit the outside of the post, but Fylde were back in front 12-10 after 23 minutes. Not for long as Fylde knocked on when trying to exit from deep and a scrum penalty was knocked over by Dean to make it 13-12 to Hull.
The tit for tat scoring continued as Fylde forged up field and won the lineout. Will Hunt took the ball to line and produced another neat chip over the top, winger Adam Lanigan was tracking off his wing and swooped on the ball to show a clean pair of heels and go over under the post, Cassidy converting to put Fylde back in front 19-13 on the half hour. However, Fylde were guilty of inviting pressure back on themselves every time they took the lead, and gave a penalty away from the re-start, then a forward pass trying to run from deep gave Hull a scrum close to Fylde’s line. With the referee playing penalty advantage scrum half Joe Adams went blind, brushed off the tackle and went over, Dean converted and Hull were back in front 20-19. Hull made this back-to-back scores as they moved up the pitch before pulling the Fylde back line defence out of shape again, ex RL man Tom Lineham slicing through, Dean converting to make it 27-19.
There was still time for one last score in the half as Fylde took play deep into the Hull half with their best spell of sustained ball retention stressing the Hull defence. Toby Harrison took the final strong carry and off loaded neatly from the deck to the supporting Danny Cassidy who dotted down and knocked over the extras, meaning Hull took the narrowest of leads into the sheds at 27-26.
Fylde brought on Corey Bowker for Chris Rudkin, Matt Ashcroft for Mike Walton, who had taken a knock just before the break, and were able to re-structure their back line more effectively. Tom Forster, who was called up to the bench after Gilliland’s injury, but had not been able to get to the ground until late due to work commitments, came on in the centres, Dorrington moved to full back, Turner to the wing, and Maguire moved to his familiar berth at scrum half, Ben Gould the man to make way.
Neither coaching team would have been happy with the defence on show in the first half, so it was no surprise that the second half saw less gaps on offer. Fylde knocked on in the first carry of the second half and were immediately scrambling to snuff out a Hull attack. A long-range break when Ben Turner was put in space was negated by Hull who gained territory again as another box kick was mis-fielded, leading to another penalty. Under severe pressure in their 22, Fylde were, perhaps, lucky not to incur a yellow card as three separate penalty advantages were played in one passage of play. There wasn’t a yellow card all day, in fact, as the ref, to his credit, allowed the game to flow whenever he could.
Parry and thrust continued with the scoreboard static, Hull missing a penalty attempt, and Greg Morgan replaced Ben Walton. On the hour mark Hull set up shop again in the Fylde 22 and battered away at the defence, which held firm well, but with no error or turnover being forced the inevitable came, as Hull’s muscular prop Tipiloma Kivalu was just one runner too many. With Dean off injured young fly half Joe Cummins converted, and Hull had some breathing space at 34-26.
Fylde girded their loins again and it was their turn to gain territory and test Hull’s defence in their own 22. Hull, in turn, resisted for as long as they could, before enough space was created wide right for a determined Jordan Dorrington to take the final pass and crash over. Cassidy was unable to convert but Fylde were back within a score at 34-31 down, 14 minutes to go.
Neither side was able to create a real chance in the first 12 minutes of that spell, and it looked like Fylde’s last chance had gone when a back move broke down near the halfway line. However, the Fylde pack forced a scrum penalty of their own and Will Hunt’s kick gave Fylde the line-out 15 yards out. The catch and drive was hauled down illegally giving Fylde a kickable penalty. A draw would have only meant 1 extra point, so Fylde chose to go for the win and the tap and go was fed to Harrison who hammered towards the line only to be brought down. Believing he was not held Harrison got back to his feet and ran over to touch down, only for the referee to adjudge his actions illegal, and in the end, it is his opinion that matters. Hull were delighted to tap the penalty, kick to touch, and celebrate 5 hard earned league points.
Fylde have won a couple of away games by narrow margins this year, one was going to go the other way at some point. Either side could have prevailed without too much argument, but Hull deserved their win for doing the simpler things better, keeping the ball for longer, and executing their game plan well. The back line re-shuffle with players out of position in crucial positions allowed Hull to exploit spaces that usually aren’t there but Fylde did at least bring 2 more league points home, the same net result as three hard fought home draws this year, which dampened the disappointment slightly. Jordan Dorrington was his usual fully committed self despite a long layoff and Rob Williamson had a very solid full 80. Fylde sit 5th in the table and will hope Mike Walton and Gilliland recover quickly and they have more squad depth available for two very tough fixtures up next, second place Macclesfield at home on the 24th, before a trip to the league leaders Sheffield on the 31st.
Joint Head Coach Chris Briers said: “Yesterday’s game was disappointing. In the 1st half when we had the ball we looked good and we scored some really good tries. If we had more possession throughout the game then we could have edged the win. Unfortunately, we didn’t keep hold of the ball long enough. Hull had opportunities and they took them.
“The game was up and down and there were times when I didn’t think either side had sustained control of the possession. It was a bit of a roller coaster really. On the positive side we earned two bonus points, so we didn’t come away empty handed. Overall, our position in N2(North) is in our hands and getting back to winning games is within our own capabilities, especially if we don’t gift chances to opposing teams.
“We’ll be ready for 2nd placed Macclesfield next week which will be a big test – I’m sure we’ll all be up for completing a double given our fine win in Cheshire in October.”
Fylde: Turner, Lanigan, Cassidy, Dorrington J, Maguire, Hunt, Gould (Forster 42), Walton M (Ashcroft 42), Harrison (Captain), Quinn Greenwood, Walton B (Morgan 55), King (Rudkin 66), Williamson, Rudkin (Bowker 40)
Unused sub: Sutcliffe
Hull: Drean, Render, Minns, Heard, Lineham, Cummins, Adams, Latu, Ratuvou, Harding, Halaifonua, Renouf, Jobling, Fretwell, Kivalu
Subs: Bergmanas, Beech, Dawkins, Pinder, Gunn-McLean