By Richard Sykes
In a game in which Huddersfield had their chances and share of possession Fylde proved much more decisive in the final third to secure a comfortable 38-5 victory at the Woodlands Memorial Ground. Despite the defeat Huddersfield’s Lewis Bradley celebrated his 150th appearance for the club.
Fylde scored six tries on the day and moved up to third place in the National 2 North table. Meanwhile Huddersfield are currently third bottom of the division.
After the game Huddersfield head coach Gaz Lewis said: “I don’t think the final score was a true reflection of the game. Fylde are a good side and clinical when given opportunities. However we produced some good moments but couldn’t convert our pressure into points.”
Huddersfield made a bright start to a closely contested first half and had a try disallowed just two minutes into the game. Having pegged Fylde back to the five metre line with a penalty, the lineout ball was taken cleanly and driven over. However the ball was judged to have been held up and Fylde were able to clear.
A quarter of an hour in, Fylde found themselves in a similar situation at the opposite end of the pitch. Fylde’s David Fairbrother scored the first try of the game, clearly grounding the ball at the back of the maul and fly half Greg Smith added two more points with a straight forward conversion to give the home side the lead.
Field responded positively to the set back with Kian Stewart, Liam Stapley, Cameron Catleugh and Ross Thornton all making promising breaks. Although Fylde were pressured into a series of penalty concessions in their own half their visitors were unable to take scoring advantage.
With half time approaching Field brought Bradley off the bench however even his experience couldn’t stop Fylde doubling their lead. On the stroke of half time the centre pairing of Bedlow and Carleton combined well in a burst down centre field, gifting the final pass to flanker Harlon Corrie for a try under the posts. Smith’s conversion concluded the first half scoring 14-0 to Fylde.
Five minutes after the interval an unconverted try by winger Tom Grimes extended Fylde’s lead with Field hitting back with their only try of the afternoon five minutes later. Lock, Nick Sharpe, was Huddersfield’s scorer, powering over from a lineout close to the Fylde line.
Athough Field continued to compete, the match ended in pretty disastrous fashion for them. The home side ran in three more tries in the final 15 minutes, aided and abetted by some carelessness by their visitors. Overthrown lineout balls and an overly ambitious flick pass gifted possession to Fylde who punished the mistakes in a clinical manner.
The first of the three was scored by Fylde ‘Man of the Match’ Henry Hadfield. The pacy wingman had been a threat throughout and his corner flag try was just reward for his afternoon’s work. Centre Joe Bedlow and lock Matthew Garrod scored the final two, both of which were converted by Ben Gregory.
Next week Huddersfield host Hull Ionians, who are in sixth place, for what will be another tough test.
Images courtesy of Fylde RFC.
