Eight try Fylde spectacular against Loughborough students.
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Oli Brennand carving through Loughborough defence
©TRU
Fylde produced some scintillating running rugby against Loughborough Students at the Woodlands and notched up eight tries in the process.
The Students didn't play especially badly and for much of the contest had an even share of possession. But when the home side ran the ball they were simply brilliant with mesmeric handling, lines of running, off loading and interplay between backs and forwards. This was heady stuff which entertained a decent sized crowd on a very mixed weather day. The wind blew strongly, the pitch was wet but, typical for the Woodlands, still a very good surface in the circumstances for running rugby.
The Lancastrians were on fire from the first whistle. A fluent move with backs & forwards in combination ended with prop Dan Birchall driving over from close range in the corner. Chris Johnson began an immaculate 100% kicking display by converting the try from near the touchline.
With the wind at their backs, Fylde totally dominated the first quarter of the match, hardly allowing their young opponents to get out of their own half. In the 10th minute hooker Mark Rylance moved the ball swiftly to winger Oli Brennand inside the Fylde half who cut infield past a number of defenders clutching at thin air. He then straightened, went left and timed a lovely pass to the fast supporting flanker Joe Robinson and the Cumbrian raced clear from 30m out to score with ease. Johnson converted well and Fylde had a 14-0 advantage.
There's no stopping the home players when they are in this groove and mood. Two minutes later they again attacked down their left, working the ball via Robinson & Brennand to fullback Olly Viney. He beat the first up tackler and sped along the touchline before drawing the last defender and passing to scrum-half Ryan De La Harpe who sprinted in for a try from 35m. Johnson converted once more making it look ridiculously easy in the strong wind, and Fylde had a 21-0 lead after 14 minutes.
The Loughborough forwards worked hard and their back five in particular put in a fine show. They were quick and strong in the tackle and were rarely turned over at the breakdown which they bossed. The backrow of skipper Freeman, Carroll & Taylor were all over the pitch alongside aggressive lock Jack Collister and provided a lot of clean possession to their backs. Unfortunately, thereafter they lacked penetration and kicked away a lot of good ball. If any tactic plays into Fylde's hands it is infield kicking which allows them to counterattack with such potency.
In the 22nd minute Fylde attacked centre right before a moment of magic from De La Harpe set up another superb try. With the drift of play going right, the Fylde scrumhalf gathered a chip ahead from Johnson and then suddenly changed direction and threw a beautiful pass left which set his backs free once more. Viney, Brennand & Ben Vernon interpassed before skipper Chris Briers received the ball and forced his way over for a lovely try. Almost inevitably, Johnson's conversion attempt from the touchline bisected the posts and his side had an extraordinary 28-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.
From the crowd's perspective all this seemed too easy and maybe this led to a certain complacency amongst the Fylde players. Loughborough came back into the game strongly and referee Rawson began to penalise Fylde frequently. The home defence became fragile and the Students runners began to break a number of first up tackles.
In the 24th minute following a ruck, Students centre Jack Bradford picked up the ball 30m out from the Fylde line and sped through the heart of an absentee defence for a try under the posts that will surely be one the easiest that the former Nottingham & Scotland U'20s back notches this season. Alex Davies converted with ease. Six minutes later Davies added a straightforward penalty from in front of the posts and had reduced the deficit to 10-28.
As they increased their effort, almost entirely through the efforts of their pack, the Students were controlling the game. In the 38th minute no 8 Edward Taylor scored a good try, once again near the posts, and Davies by adding the extras had brought his side right back into the contest with Fylde's lead being cut to 28-17.
But Fylde had the last word as the dramatic 1st half came to an end. Winger Ben Rath hadn't seen much action up to then but he played a crucial part in the next try. Fylde ran the ball from their own line before Rath received the ball well inside his own half and skipped around one tackler and powered down the right touchline through another defender before linking with Adam Lewis. The mobile prop neatly handed on to fly-half Johnson who raced in from 30m out to score in the right corner. Kicking from the touchline and the 'wrong' side for a right footer with a strong capricious wind, Johnson somehow bent the ball and it dropped just over the bar for his fifth successful conversion and a half-time Fylde lead of 35-17.
If the 2nd half fell a little short of the glorious open play of the 1st period then it was hardly a surprise. The third quarter was rather a stalemate as Loughborough continued to earn at least their share of possession and territory. Fylde coach Mark Nelson was confident enough to introduce replacements Simon Griffiths, Tom Burtonwood & Scott Barrow for Lewis, Rylance & Johnson respectively.
The deadlock was broken in the 60th minute by another piece of opportunism from Man of the Match Ryan De La Harpe. From a scrummage 20m out from the Loughborough line, the Namibian World Cup player weaved his way through the heart of the Loughborough defence and raced through for a neat try under the posts. With Chris Johnson off the field, De La Harpe took over the goal kicking and added the extra points for a 42-17 scoreline.
Scott Barrow had by now taken over the fulcrum role of fly-half and in the 65th minute a piece of slight of hand by the former Leeds Carnegie player contributed to Fylde's 7th try. Barrow drew a defender and slipped a short pass away down the left on the halfway line. Brennand received the ball and raced down the left touchline in typical fashion. He swerved around one desperate intending defender before approaching the final defender who he stepped past in devastating fashion. He touched down 10m in from the touchline so De La Harpe's conversion kick was far from straightforward. Nevertheless, and despite the wind, he converted it in fine fashion and Fylde's lead stretched to 49-17.
Loughborough weren't finished and in the 70th minute they scored their 3rd try when skipper & flanker James Freeman forced his way over from close range. The conversion attempt was wide but the deficit was down to 22-49. Could the Students earn a bonus point consolation by forcing a 4th try?
Well, it didn't work out that way despite the advantage of an extra man when Fylde lock Paul Arnold was sinbinned for interfering at a ruck deep inside his own half. Fylde escaped that pressure and had a final attack in injury time. From a series of drives by Griffiths & Birchall a few metres out from the Students line, Joe Robinson forced his way over the try line to complete a fine individual performance. By then, Ryan De La Harpe had been replaced by tyro scrum-half prospect Jordan Dorrington. So up stepped Fylde's 3rd goal kicker, winger Ben Rath. From wide out Rath's conversion was perfect and the final whistle blew with a score of 56-22.
There's a danger of the healthily sized Fylde crowds taking these kind of displays for granted. But eight tries, six of them beautifully constructed, characterised another great advert for National One rugby. Whilst coaches Nelson & Ashton were disappointed by a certain lethergy & poor tackling in the third quarter, they were purring in the Clubhouse after the game about the quality of the attacking running and the superb tries. Given the results elsewhere in the division, Fylde have consolidated their 3rd place and are still just ten points away from leaders Doncaster Knights.
