Sheffield RUFC 29 Fylde 17: match report
Sheffield RUFC are sitting pretty at the top of National Two (North) with an outstanding 100%, 16 wins out of 16 games played. They have dropped just one potential bonus point during the season when they failed to score four or more tries in a match. Fylde have struggled at Abbeydale Park in the past losing four out of the last five matches played there.
There was probably some trepidation as they took an injury hit squad to the Steel City but, as it happened, they gave the likely champions a real work out despite this. With a little more control, they could have embarrassed their hosts who lost three players through two yellows and a red card in an undisciplined last 15 minutes. Despite this furious finale in which the visitors threw the kitchen sink at Sheffield, Fylde couldn’t bridge the points gap and eventually went down by 29-17 after a hugely brave performance.
Injuries have dogged the Lancastrians in the current campaign and they travelled to the south west of the city missing both half-backs, two important three quarters, Sam Stott and Ben Turner, two props and two first choice back-five players. Losing influential fly-half Will Hunt and tyro scrum-half Gabe Maguire during the week was a body blow but replacements Alex Clayton and Ben Gould stood in manfully. Similarly, they also had to cover for the missing Walton brothers in the pack, with Greg Morgan and Matt Ashcroft stepping in. On top of this, talismanic no 8 David Fairbrother was injured in the 26th minute and took no further part.
Most of the early pressure came from Fylde as they dominated possession and territory. A sign of what was to come was their inability to turn this into points. It took Sheffield 25 minutes to get into their normally efficient all court game before their influential no 8 Zak Poole muscled over the line to claim a try converted by fly-half Callum Posa.
Fylde rang the changes as prop Chris Rudkin and lock Greg Morgan were given a break to be replaced by Rob King and Sam Parker on the half hour. It was particularly good to see the return of the diminutive but incredibly tough hooker/flanker Parker who was making his 50th 1st XV appearance after an injury break of three months.
Danny Cassidy kicked a penalty after 35 minutes to reduce the deficit to 7-3. Sheffield responded with a critical score two minutes before half-time. Their outstanding winger Christian Hooper was playing his 100th 1st XV appearance and he celebrated by notching his 100th try, an incredible strike rate in any level of competitive rugby. Posa missed the conversion from wide out but his team trotted back to the changing rooms with a 12-3 advantage, very much against the run of play in a very hard fought first 40 minutes. A measure of Sheffield’s form is their clinical strike rate, two tries from four visits to Fylde’s 22m line in the first 40 minutes.
Sheffield began the 2nd half in much the same fashion as Fylde immediately lost possession from their own kick-off as the rain poured down. The home team took advantage as they worked space out wide for winger Jack Dawson to score a good try. Posa converted this for a 17-3 lead which looked ominous for the visitors.
But Fylde did not give up the ghost and fought back in the very best way in the difficult conditions. A lovely flowing backs move in the 50th minute ended with winger Leo Galliland racing into the corner for a try. This was converted from near the touchline by fullback Cassidy and a better looking scoreline of 19-10.
In the 58th minute Sheffield flanker Felix Crapper broke clear of the Fylde defense and he linked up with no 8 Poole who claimed his second try of the afternoon. Posa converted for 26-10. Fylde debutant back replacement Alex Carson came on in the 60th minute but was sadly injured three minutes later.
Once again, Fylde heads didn’t drop as the game entered the last 15 minutes. Sheffield replacement flanker Matt Adcock saw yellow and that was the end of his afternoon. Fylde then worked another clever backs move and centre Tom Forster put Gilliland into space with a lovely pass and the winger finished off decisively once again. Alex Clayton took over goal kicking responsibilities and he kicked a good conversion to reduce the deficit to 26-17.
A Posa penalty in the 74th minute extended Sheffield’s lead but preceded a stormy last five minutes as Fylde flooded forward. Replacement prop Alex Reid was shown a yellow card and he joined Adcock on the naughty step. A couple of minutes later, Poole spoiled his try scoring afternoon by receiving a straight red card for for an alleged high tackle on Clayton.
The late drama had no affect on the scoring but did show the brave efforts of the Fylde team underlining that this was far from a one way affair. They remain in 6th place in the league as Sheffield march on in all probability to the championship of N2(N) despite Macclesfield hanging in there on their heels. Fylde face another long trip next Saturday when they face Billingham following the postponement of the fixture in December.
The Rugby Paper selected Sheffield’s Felix Crapper as the MoM whilst the Fylde management nominated Leo Gilliland.
SHEFFIELD: Smith L (Thorpe 76); Dawson, Smith W, Castledine, Hooper; Posa, Drennan (Fisher 56); Whitney (Reid 26, Whitney 58), Campbell (Archer 56), Rogers (Hicklin 29, Rogers 76), Redfern, Parsons, Thorpe (Adcock 26), Crapper, Poole.
FYLDE: Cassidy; Gilliland, Dorrington, Forster, Lanigan (Carson 60, Lanigan 63); Clayton (Williamson 78), Gould; Bowker (Rudkin 56), Williamson (Sutcliffe 60), Rudkin (King 29), Morgan (Parker 29), Greenwood, Quinn (Morgan 40), Harrison, Fairbrother (Ashcroft 26).