Fylde 33 - Esher 7

Fylde put in another five star performance at the Woodlands to beat another top six National One club. Doncaster, Rosslyn Park & Blaydon have already suffered the same fate this season so perhaps it was no surprise to see the home side totally deserving of another clear victory against 4th placed Esher.

Fylde established a 21-0 lead by the 26th minute and Esher, despite working hard throughout, never looked like overhauling them. Numerous visiting supporters of these clubs have expressed the same kind of sentiments after these games – “we were very disappointing.” But Esher Head Coach Ricky Nebbett put it a different way in comments to The Rugby Paper: “Ultimately, it was down to how Fylde played. They are a very skillful side with an almost unstructured sort of style, which is very tough.” This would have been music to the ears of coaches Mark Nelson, Brian Ashton & Paul Arnold.   

Fylde kicked off with the very strong wind and light rain at their backs. They opened strongly and exerted early pressure deep in the Esher half. In the 8th minute a series of forward drives ended with a superb offload by the master of that art, Paul Arnold, to fellow lock Gareth Gore who slipped through the Esher defence from 10m out to score near the posts.Chris Johnson converted for a 7-0 lead.

Esher came back strongly and used their muscular pack to put serious pressure on the home side on their own line. With loosehead prop Dave Millard & outstanding no 8 Mike Macfarlane showing up prominently, the forwards made numerous drives and were just inches short of a equalising try. Somehow, summing up the game, the Fylde defence managed to earn a turnover and, with the wind carrying Johnson's kick 60m, clearing well down field.

At the beginning of the 2nd quarter, Fylde were back inside the Esher 22m line and earned a penalty which was, in typical fashion, tapped rather than kicked for goal. From a subsequent ruck scrum-half Ryan De La Harpe fed Johnson who stepped inside a flailing defender and popped a neat pass to skipper Chris Briers on his shoulder and he scored easily. Johnson added the extras for a 14-0 lead.

In the difficult conditions both sides made handling errors but even when in field position the visitors couldn't penetrate the Fylde defence. The Esher scrummage was dominant throughout and from a penalty against the home side 30m out from the Fylde line the ball was moved centre field. The ball was spilled and from such broken play Fylde thrive. They moved the ball left through a sharp break by fullback Olly Viney, a thorn in Esher's side for the whole game, and he passed to winger Oli Brennand. He burst along the left touchline and from 70m out beat the covering tacklers to score in the corner with a typical piece of opportunism. Despite Johnson mis-hitting the conversion from the touchline, it still was successful as it dropped over the bar. 21-0 to Fylde.

In some matches, Fylde have struggled to achieve parity at the tackle breakdown. But the return to action of specialist openside flanker Steve McGinnis, along with the efforts ofAdam Lewis, Ben Vernon & Tom Burtonwood, gave them traction and a number of turnovers were achieved. The half ended with Fylde holding a comfortable 21-0 lead. Typically for Fylde, they had kicked very sparingly during the 40 minutes and the few kicks they had put in weren't terribly good ones. How would Esher use the gale at their backs and would the Fylde defence hold out against sustained pressure.

The third quarter of the game was rather a stalemate as Esher earned more possession and territory whilst the Fylde tackling gave them little space or time. The weather was no deteriorating quickly as a wall of rain beat into the Fylde players faces. The visitors rather over used their forwards whilst the backs found it hard to penetrate an obdurate home defence.

As Fylde continued to try to play running rugby despite the conditions, they spilled ball 30m out from the Esher line and the ball was grubber kicked long downfield towards the Fylde try line. It was a footrace between Warren Spragg, Ryan De La Harpe and the very pacy Esher winger Spencer Sutherland. The Fylde defenders just managed to prevent the try and scrambled the ball away. But Esher maintained the pressure inside the Fylde 22m zone and drove time and again for the line. Finally, winger Sutherland managed to get his hand on a loose ball for the touchdown. Fly-half Tom Whelan converted very well from wide out and the deficit was down to 7-21. There was a real urgency to Esher as they tried to rescue something from the game.

The match was held up for some minutes as Gareth Gore received extensive treatment before being replaced by Simon Griffiths who went into the 2nd row. Two minutes later Fylde had a scrummage centre field and De La Harpe went right to feed Olly Viney who made a superb 30m break. The ball was recycled a couple of times before Warren Spragg picked a clever inside line to score a well worked try. Johnson's conversion was caught by the wind and drifted wide. But with Fylde leading by 26-7 and 15 minutes left to play, it was hard to see Esher coming back into contention.

Replacements for both sides came thick and fast as the respective coaches juggled their resources. Hard working Fylde no 8 Sam Beaumont picked up a worrying knock and was replaced by Joe Robinson who quickly made his presence felt.

Esher certainly fought hard and pressed deep inside the Fylde half once again deep into injury time. 10m outside the Fylde line the ball was spilled in contact and Fylde turned over possession and in their irrepressible way ran the ball pretty much from their own line. A barnstorming charge from prop Adam Lewis opened the door, Tom Burtonwood carried it on before releasing replacement wing Ben Rath on halfway. The young speedster burst infield and hurtled through a demoralised Esher defence in thrilling fashion from 50m out to score by the posts. Chris Johnson's simple conversion ended the game and his side were deserved winners.

This was a pleasing way to end Head Coach Mark Nelson's 300th game in charge of Fylde's 1st team and he looked delighted as the drenched players trooped off at the end. Whilst the bad weather and alternative attractions had reduced the size of the crowd somewhat, nevertheless the team received a rousing reception from their loyal followers. The backs had scored four spectacular tries but the foundation was provided by the hard working pack of forwards. This was a true team effort and a bonus point win made their 3rd place in National One more secure. But that will be thoroughly tested when they visit 2nd placed Rosslyn Park next Saturday.