Darlington Mowden Park 38 v Fylde 52: report by Simon Taylor
A resurgent Fylde backed up their return to winning ways with an away day 5 pointer in a high scoring and highly entertaining game. A try fest with attacks on top and defences sometimes porous saw them outscore the hosts Darlington 8 tries to 6. An excellent half hour after losing the lead just after half time saw Fylde build up what was in the end an unassailable lead, although Darlington fought to the end, two late tries and a bonus point the reward for their efforts.
Missing at least 17 players through injury and unavailability, Fylde were at least able to welcome back Sam Stott for the first time in 3 months. He was partnered in the centres by Dan Slawson, playing his third different position in as many games. Ashton Kassam-Sharples also showed his versatility, starting on the wing, and Tristan Assad was handed his debut on the bench, as the prop tree was shaken hard once again.
On a dry, mild day, a firm track and the sheltered stadium surroundings provided ideal conditions for an open game, and that is what everybody got. Fylde defended for the first 6 minutes before Matt Garrod pinched a DMP line out and a strong carry by skipper Dave Fairbrother earned Fylde a penalty on their 22. With it not being in their DNA to slow the game down, Will Hunt took the quick tap and created disarray in the home defence, weaving up field 50 yards before drawing the last man and putting Sam Parker clear for the first try, which Hunt converted for an early 7-0 lead. Two minutes later it was rinse & repeat as Ben Gould took the tap and go penalty, Hunt then went to his favourite chip and re-gather, this time putting big Ben Walton clear for a 20-yard gallop to the line. Hunt’s conversion slid wide this time, but Fylde had a 12-0 lead after just 8 minutes.
DMP recovered from this flurry of points to gain some sustained possession, showing they were willing and able to spin the ball and play at tempo themselves. They stretched Fylde enough to squeeze centre Jacob Oliver in at the corner, kick missed, 12-5 to Fylde after 18 minutes. Back came Fylde again 2 minutes later, Kassam-Sharples swooping on a loose ball and showing pace to surge into the DMP 22. A quality cleanout by Ben Walton provided quick ball and Ben Turner made his first big impact of the day, weaving through several attempted tackles for a fine try, Hunt converted and it was 19-5 to Fylde. DMP battled back, fielding a loose kick out from defence and returning it with interest, prop Sam Clarke lurking to take the last pass and score under the sticks, Flynn Ward converting to make it 19-12. DMP then backed this up, profiting from an errant cross-field kick this time and scoring in the left corner through Reuben Dyer, again unconverted, but the Fylde lead was cut to 19-17. Fylde’s hooker James Sutcliffe was forced off with a knock, Rob Williamson replacing him, and DMP had a long-range penalty attempt fall just short, meaning Fylde took their narrow 2-point lead into the sheds at the break.
Fylde’s slow start nemesis struck again as play resumed, as they failed to deal with a box kick by DMP who regained possession and spun the ball left with Liam Checksfield scoring in the corner. Ward converted, and DMP had the lead for the first time at 24-19. Sam Parker was also forced off, Kyle Macaulay replacing him, taking up residence on the wing as Kassam Sharples moved to his more familiar position in the back row. Kassam-Sharples made an immediate impact with an excellent jackal penalty, Sam Stott went on a strong surge through the midfield and freed his arms to give Kassam-Sharples the scoring pass. Will Hunt’s conversion meant DMP’s lead had been very brief as Fylde re-took the lead 26-24.
On 49 minutes Tristan Assad’s moment came as he replaced Oli Trippier, a meteoric rise from Vandal to first XV colours. It coincided with Fylde’s best spell of the game as they upped the tempo and crucially maintained a level of accuracy that DMP struggled to cope with. On 50 minutes a Fylde penalty was kicked to touch, the catch and drive was set up, and Rob Williamson was last man up, Hunt missed with the conversion, but Fylde were now 31-24 up. Just 4 minutes later, Fylde missed a penalty kick to touch but DMP gave a scrum away near their 22 with a forward pass. From the scrum Ben Turner went blind, skinned his man and was tackled just short of the line, Greg Morgan followed up, secured the ball, pirouetted blind and crashed over in the corner, great support play. Will Hunt nailed a fine conversion from wide out and Fylde were suddenly 38-24 up.
Fylde did not let up and DMP were struggling to cope with a team in full flow. Fylde broke from deep from the re-start and it looked for all money as if Ben Walton was in for his second long range scamper only for him to spill the ball near the DMP line. The reprieve was temporary as new boy Assad helped his mates in the pack make a mess of the DMP scrum and take the ball against the head, Dave Fairbrother picking up from the base and diving over for the try. Hunt was in the groove, and his conversion made it 45-24, still 20 minutes to go.
Max Senior came on for Ben Walton to have a rest, a very short rest as Walton was back on within minutes as Matt Garrod was forced off. Fylde were still playing well and on 72 minutes scored again. Good goal-line defence snuffed out DMP before breaks by Stott and Kassam-Sharples took play deep into DMP territory again, good work from Adam Lanigan, Walton and Turner stressed the DMP line and Fairbrother was the last man to snipe and offload to Ben Gould, whose fine game was rewarded with Fylde’s eighth and last try, Hunt’s sixth conversion making it 52-24.
Fylde’s standards dipped slightly in the last 8 minutes and DMP were keen to end on a high. An error in the carry in their own 22 gifted possession back to DMP and Dylan Thompson forced his way over, Ward converting to make it 52-31. Alex Gaughan got some game time as Will Hunt took a well-deserved breather and DMP were able to slice though once more in midfield from halfway and put Checksfield in for his second try, Ward’s conversion the last action of the day as Fylde ran out 52-38 winners.
This was an excellent performance and win for Fylde, especially considering the amount of personnel and positional changes they have been forced to make nearly every week. They remain 6th in the table and have narrowed the gap to 5th placed DMP to one point. Ben Turner was named Fylde’s man of the match by DMP. Former LRGS, Vale of Lune & Manchester Metropolitan University player Kassam-Sharples had an excellent game, Sam Stott looked like he had never been away, and Ben Gould had one of his best games yet, but this was very much an all-round team performance, special shout out to Tristam Assad who should be very proud of his contribution in his first outing at this level.
Coach Chris Briers commented: “I am proud of the whole squad for today’s performance against a good DMP team who are above us in the table. The half hour after we went behind in the second half was some of the best rugby we have played all season and DMP couldn’t live with us in that spell. We have used more than 40 players this campaign so our strength in depth is there to see. With 4 games left we want to finish strongly and as high up the league as we can, next home game against Otley on Ladies Day on the 21st should be a cracker, especially if we can play to this level again”.
[It’s worth noting that in nine previous visits to play DMP on their own territory, both at their old Yiewsley Rd Ground and more recently the Darlington Arena, Fylde had lost seven, drawn one and won just one.]
Fylde: Turner, Kassam-Sharples, Slawson, Stott, Lanigan, Hunt (Gaughan 79), Gould, Fairbrother (Captain), Parker (Macaulay 41), Morgan, Garrod (Walton B 64), Walton B (Senior 62), Trippier (Assad 49), Sutcliffe (Williamson 36), Bowker
DMP: Dyer, Callaghan, Checksfield, Oliver, Varo, Ward, Douglas (Swan 27), Butterill, Davison (Vaioleti 73), Uzokwe, Coulston (Yabaki 66), Thompson, Clark, Brown, Vaioleti (Alder 52).
Attendance: 551
