Fylde lose at Ionians

Hull Ionians 37 Fylde 24

Fylde's poor away record continued when they were beaten by Hull Ionians at their impressive Brantingham Park base. This was their 9th defeat out of 13 matches away from the Woodlands this season.

Ionians deserved their win earned through a dominant performance by their pack. Fylde competed well in the 1st half and were just 10-13 down at the interval. An early Oli Brennand try in the 2nd period gave them the lead but they then the forward battle as Ionians mauled and drove their way to three more tries and put the game out of sight of the visitors. A late Simon Griffiths try gave Fylde a consolation 4-try bonus point.

Fylde were missing Paul Arnold, Gareth Gore, Sam Beaumont & Steve McGinnis from their starting line-up due to injuries, illness & unavailability. It would have been a brave man at the beginning of the season to have put money on Fylde starting a National One game with a prop (Griffiths) and flanker (Cameron Thompson) locking the scrummage! However, the squad played gamely throughout despite these difficulties.

An early penalty from Ionians' scrum-half Isaac Green gave the home side the lead. This was cancelled out in the 14th minute by a try by prop Dan Birchall. Chris Johnson missed the conversion. Green edged in front with another Green penalty in the 24th minute but the lead lasted until the 31st minute. Ionians prop David Laverick was yellow carded and Fylde took advantage a minute later when Johnson got on the end of a good move to score his 10th try of a productive season. Once again he missed a tricky conversion but Fylde had a 10-6 advantage.

The Ionians forward pressure was beginning to tell and in the last minute of the half they were awarded a penalty try for a collapsed scrummage. Green converted easily for a 13-10 half-time lead.

The 2nd half opened brightly for Fylde when a typical piece of opportunism by Oli Brennand resulted in his 16th try of the season. Johnson's conversion established a 17-13 lead for the visitors. This lasted until the 50th minute when another Green penalty, followed by six minutes later by another, gave his side a 19-17 lead, one which they were not to relinquish this time. A minute later home fullback Keane Naylor finished off a good move to score a try wide out. The Ionians lead of 24-17 was extended by another Green penalty in the 65th minute.

Two unconverted tries by Ionians flanker Mark Wigham from close quarter moves, following on from a yellow card to Fylde flanker Joe Robinson, took the game well out of Fylde's reach at 37-17. A last minute try by Simon Griffiths gave the score line more respectability and, more importantly, a try scoring bonus point.

Fylde coach Mark Nelson paid tribute to the efforts of his team but they were out muscled by a big, physical Ionians pack. He said: "We have a weekend off in front of us and that will enable numerous broken bodies to mend! Our sights are now on the Cinderford match at the Woodlands on March 22nd. We will be training intensely for this big game - it's very important that we notch a good win for our home supporters. Other objectives are to overtake Doncaster for the most tries in the season and to get the top try scorer too!"