Fylde Disappoint at Tynedale

Fylde's fortunes at Tynedale Park continue to disappoint as they went down to another defeat, this time by 7-26 to Tynedale. 

The home side may be struggling against relegation but this wasn't the performance of a squad about to return to National Two after a distinguished six seasons at level 3. Their resurgence since the turn of the year has seen them pick up four clear wins in five matches and they look equipped to climb clear of trouble. This deserved win was in contradistinction to their supine performance at the Woodlands when they caved in to a 3-38 defeat.

This was Fylde's sixth defeat in eight away matches against Tynedale. Fylde's away form continues to perplex compared with their authority at the Woodlands. Although they remain in 3rd place in National One, they have lost seven out of eleven away matches this campaign. They will be looking to get back to winning ways when they welcome 4th placed Esher to the Woodlands on Saturday and will be defending a proud record of nine wins and one defeat.

Tynedale began the game at a rush and, with the strong wind at their backs, took the lead in the 4th minute. From a lineout near the Fylde line, the Tynedale pack muscled their way over and centre Ben Frankland stole over the line to claim the try. Fly-half Gavin Beasley converted for a 7-0 lead.

In the 10th minute it was a repeat performance and once again the driving maul ended with Frankland at the bottom of the ruck for the try. This time Beasley's attempted conversion drifted wide but his side had a 12-0 advantage.

The Tynedale pack was in dominant mood and were bossing the forward exchanges. In the 15th minute Kiwi flanker Daniel Temm, on loan from Newcastle Falcons, broke forward, passed to scrum-half Greg Illingworth who put winger Sep Visser in at the corner. Beasley's conversion from wide out was excellent and the North Easterners had a 19-0 lead.

Fylde had strolled to a 28-0 lead in the first quarter of the game against Loughborough Students last week and were now in a position to experience how it felt to be so far behind so early on in the game. The game was becoming rather tetchy and in the 33rd minute Temm & Simon Griffiths were yellow carded by referee Andrew Jackson.  
 
Fylde edged their way back into the game but, summing up their luck in the 1st half, a powerful forward drive over the Tynedale line in the 40th minute was adjudged, to the surprise of the visiting players, as not grounded and the half-time whistle was blown immediately.

The third quarter of the game was scoreless with a lot of midfield graft. During this period the Fylde coaches threw on four replacements to try to inject new legs into the action – Adam Lewis, Mark Rylance, Warren Spragg & Martin Wallwork came on for Simon Griffiths, Tom Burtonwood, Olly Viney & Ryan De La Harpe.

But despite losing Kristian Borthwick to a yellow card, Tynedale extended their lead in the 62nd minute when after a couple of powerful scrum surges they worked the ball left and fullback Craig Willis got the touchdown. Beasley converted for a 26-0 lead.

Tynedale's playing resources are usefully bolstered by dual registration players from Newcastle Falcons such as Willis & hooker David Nelson. Another of them, Lancastrian & former Kirkham Grammar product Harrison Collins, has played a number of games for Fylde and he had a fine game against his old club.

In the 70th minute Fylde lock Paul Arnold was the 4th player to kick his heels in the sin bin. But his team mates battled away gamely against the odds. Just when the club statistician was checking for the last time the team had been 'nilled' in a league game (for the record, 0-43, December 2009 at Loughborough Students), the visitors worked  a position near the Tynedale line and replacement hooker Rylance forced his way over for his 2nd try for the club. Fly-half Scott Barrow converted to end the match with a 7-26 final score.

Fylde Head Coach Mark Nelson was phlegmatic about 'a bad day at the office' for his squad. “We started poorly and made early mistakes which let Tynedale establish a commanding lead. We failed to convert our chances in the 1st half which we played into a strong wind including having a justifiable effort ruled out on half-time. There's no doubt that Tynedale were impressive and deserved their win. But it was a very frustrating afternoon for us and definitely a game to forget. We need to look positively ahead to the visit of Esher on Saturday and put this performace behind us.”