Tynedale 34 v Fylde 26: match report by Simon Taylor
Fylde’s search for their first win of 2026 continues as their lost their sixth straight game. A slow start to the game and an off-key first 40 saw them trail 24-0 at the break. A much improved second half saw Fylde jangle Tynedale’s nerves, had a late conversion not drifted wide they would have been back within a converted try with 3 minutes to go. Unfortunately, it did go the wrong side of the posts and Tynedale were able to see the game out and climb to second and into the play-off spot. Fylde returned home with a solitary try bonus point, rueing not being to get into the game much earlier.
Tynedale kicked off to Fylde who won the first penalty of the game in their own 22. They chose to tap and go but went backwards before a miss pass was knocked on giving Tynedale an early scrum close to the Fylde line. 3 phases later prop Oscar Caudle drove over for the try, converted by stand-off Jake Rodgers, and Tynedale had the early 7-0 lead. Fylde struggled to get into the game and when Alex Clayton was unable to clear out of the tackle area in the 13th minute, he was yellow carded. Just a minute later stand-off Rodgers spotted the gap out wide & sent a pin-point kick into winger Will Roberts’s hands for Tynedale’s second try to stretch the lead to 12-0. It didn’t take long for Tynedale to stretch the lead further after a penalty kick deep, then the catch and drive line out which sucked the defence in before the ball was spun wide. With Fylde a man down in the backs it was left wing Seamus Hutton who had acres of space to run in, Rodgers converted, and Fylde were 19-0 down after the same number of minutes.
Fylde made some early changed with veteran ex-skipper Adam Lewis and Oli Trippier replacing Rudkin and Williamson and managed to get a toehold in the game, forcing a few penalties and territory. However, chances did not turn into points, and Tynedale were able to snuff out Fylde’s attempts, even when down a man themselves, when try scorer Roberts was yellow carded on the half hour. In fact, right on half time, Tynedale were able to extend their lead. Coaches will often ask players to ‘show some dog’ on the pitch, but this time it was literal, when an unattended pooch raced on to the playing area showing an eye for the gap. The referee stopped play while the miscreant was removed, and awarded Fylde the scrum on Tynedale’s 22. Fylde gave away a free kick, Tynedale kicked deep, Fylde won the line-out but knocked on in the centres, from the next play a Fylde defender jumped out of the line creating the gap for Rodgers to dance through and throw a long pass out to Hutton to run in for an easy try, his second and Tynedale’s bonus point. The conversion was missed but Fylde trooped off after a very forgettable first 40 down 24-0 and with a mountain to climb.
Coaches Alex Loney and Chris Briers got to work on their troops and sent them back out with a renewed sense of purpose, which paid dividends immediately. Fylde chased the re-start hard and when Tynedale failed to gather, Alex Clayton hacked the loose ball forward and touched down wide out left. With Danny Cassidy the latest on the long injury list, Will Hunt took over kicking duties and landed a lovely conversion from the touchline. A brighter start for Fylde, the gap narrowed to 24-7. Not for long though, as a minute later a kick out of defence from Fylde was returned with interest, and then some, by winger Roberts as he rampaged through 3 or 4 tackles all the way to the line for his second try, 34-7.
The fast start to the second half continued as skipper Dave Fairbrother did what he does best fielding a box kick well and returning with a strong carry that earnt a penalty. The kick to touch allowed Oli Tripper to hit Will Greenwood in the line-out and rejoin at the back of the driving maul. As the maul twisted sideways Trippier chose the perfect time to go blind and feed scrum-half Ben Gould who scooted in a for a good score, goaled by Hunt. Just 5 minutes gone in the second half and Fylde were now 29-14 down.
After these 3 early scores the scoreboard went idle again for 20 minutes as defences tightened up. Ben Walton made a return from injury to replace Greg Morgan and Dan Slawson showed his versatility coming on at full back for Ben Turner. Sam Parker had, as usual, run himself into the ground with hard carries and big hits, and he was replaced by Max Senior. On 66 minutes it was the home team who managed to get the scoreboard ticking again as they went back to what they do best. They kicked a penalty deep, set up the line-out and then battered away at the Fylde defence, marshalled superbly, as ever, by their wily old veteran second row, Chris Wearmouth, a fine man to have in any team. When they had softened up the Fylde defence sufficiently, they spun the ball left, and Roberts was the first of 2 men available on the overlap to complete his hat-trick, the Tynedale wingers having a field day. The try was unconverted, but Tynedale had what looked like an unassailable lead now, at 34-14, with less than 15 minutes left.
To Fylde’s credit, they dug in and had their best spell of the game. On 69 minutes Tynedale kicked out of defence and Will Hunt fed Dan Slawson on halfway in midfield. Slawson took the ball to the line and fed Jordan Dorrington who sliced through on the scissors. Dorrington drew the man, fed Slawson again, and he, in turn, drew the last man, offloaded basketball style back to Dorrington, and he raced in under the sticks. The try of the game, improved by Hunt to make it 34-21.
Fylde had their dander up and were hungry to take something from the game. They put Tynedale on the back foot with some accurate and up-tempo play and on 76 minutes crossed again, when a long pass out left bounced loose but was re-gathered by Leo Gilliland, and he had enough wriggle room to get over the whitewash. This bonus point try, had it been converted, would have given Tynedale a very nervy last few minutes and meant Fylde were within 7 for at the least a second bonus point, but Hunt’s conversion from out wide went just the wrong side of the posts. Tynedale could breathe easier, knowing Fylde still had to score twice to pinch a win. The home team won back possession and adopted a series of pick and goes, until the referee confirmed time was up, and fittingly perhaps, Wearmouth was the man to boot the ball out and end the game.
Alex Clayton was named Fylde’s player of the match by Tynedale and Fylde can take heart from a much better second half. They will look to take that spirit and improved level of performance into next week’s home game with Wharfedale, who, having beaten local rivals Preston Grasshoppers at the weekend, now sit only 1 point behind Fylde in the league table. Fylde will be keen to get back to winning ways and keep themselves in sixth position as they head into the last 6 games of the season.
Coach Chris Briers gave his comments post-match: “We started slowly and Tynedale capitalised on the penalties we gave away. Our yellow card didn’t help and was unfortunate, given where it was on the pitch.
“We felt it was maybe a bit harsh, and they took advantage scoring in that period. In the second half we were very spirited and came out flying scoring immediately, unfortunately we then gave one straight back, but weren’t downhearted and kept going to the end, getting one bonus point and we could have had two. The slow start cost us in the end, but we played some great rugby in the second half and a had a good side worried. If we can take the positives from the second half into next week it should put us in good stead for that game.”
Fylde: Turner (Slawson 56), Gilliland, Clayton, Forster, Dorrington J, Hunt, Gould, Fairbrother, Parker (Senior 62), Morgan (Walton B 46), Garrod, Greenwood, Rudkin (Lewis 21), Williamson (Trippier 21), Bowker (Rudkin 68)
Tynedale: Mann, Roberts, Beaty, Miller (Grant), Hutton, Rodgers, Telford (Baines 51), Richards (Hall-Lyon 46/Richards 51), Turnbull, Broderick, Dunn, Wearmouth, Caudle (Hughes 63), Haigh (Hanning 43), Hughes (Turnill 53)