Fylde Dominate Battle of the Roses

Fylde welcomed Wharfedale to their Woodlands ground this weekend for a battle of the roses.

Although there was a high frequency of errors made from both sides, it was Fylde who dominated from the off in an exciting encounter, as they eventually sealed a 34-21 maximum points victory.

The win was a tough-fought affair as the Yorkshire side travelled over to Lancashire as a determined and well-drilled outfit.

Fylde started the stronger with a try in the third minute from lock Paul Arnold. Arnold picked the ball up from the base of a ruck and galloped through the heart of the Wharfedale defence to open the scoring. Chris Johnson added the extra points to give the home side an early 7-0 lead.

However, Wharfedale fought back straight away with some strong forward play at scrum time. The Fylde forwards could not handle the early pressure and gave away a penalty, which the Yorkshire fly half, Tom Barrett converted to make the score 7-3.

The game continued in its back and forth nature as Fylde attacked once more deep within the away half. A maul was brought down by Wharfedale 8, Aaron Myers, who was rightly sent to the bin.

The following penalty was kicked to the corner by Fylde, who made the most of the man advantage and drove their pack only metres short of the line. The ball was quickly moved to the hands of prop Joe Altham who burrowed over the line for Fylde’s second score; extending their lead to 12-3.

Fylde were still looking to make the most of the uneven numbers, as the Lancashire side moved the ball from a scrum and released winger Warren Spragg down the touchline. He made a superb amount of ground, stepping a number of defenders, before finally off-loading to lock Gareth Gore who was held just short of the line. Newcomer, hooker Mark Rylance, was in close support and powered over for the score. After the extras Fylde led 19-3.

When the binned player returned, Wharfedale came back strongly at Fylde. A long penalty attempt was soon made to reduce the gap by 3 points.

The green pack made their way down the field once more and were stopped only five metres short, illegally, by lock Arnold, who was then sent to the bin.

In a carbon copy of Fylde, the away side looked to make the most of the man advantage in the pack and opted to kick for the corner. The man advantage proved dividends as the Yorkshire pack drove over the line for a try. Barrett added the extras to make the score 19-13.

Fylde managed to kick a final penalty on the stroke of half time, to make the scores 22-13 at the break.
As the sides returned for the second half, it was the visitors who started much stronger, scoring a try within 2 minutes. The ball moved across the backline to young winger Josh Prell who crossed the line after an impressive 40m break; reducing the deficit to 22-18.

The score and gap of only 4 points seemed to spark life back into the Fylde side, who, in the 48th minute, worked their way deep into the ‘Dale half.

Fylde’s efforts were rewarded with a penalty in front of the posts, but the easy three point attempt was declined for a tap penalty by Johnson. Fylde Captain Evan Stewart won the ball and powered through a number of defenders to stretch for the line and score the try by only a few centimetres.

After the additional two points, the visitors hit back with another penalty to make the score line 29-21.

Finally, a break on the short side of a scrum by winger Oli Brennand, allowed room for Stewart, who was in close support to bring his side within metres of the line. An off load to lock Gareth Gore, who then found Ben Vernon, resulted in a final try as the flanker powered over the line.

Johnson missed the conversion, but the score of 34-21 was enough to seal the victory for Fylde.
The home side have no recorded maximum points from their two opening games, leaving them fourth in the National 1 table. Fylde will travel away to Blackheath next weekend, in search of a third win from three games.