Otley 46 Fylde RFC 22: Woodlands players are outplayed by Otley

Two late tries from skipper Ben Gregory, one coming from the final play of the game, salvaged a crumb of comfort in the shape of a try bonus point – but it was a meagre one.

Things started badly when Jordan Dorrington snuffed out an Otley attack with an interception but was injured in the process and limped off.

Fylde failed to clear out at the carry on five minutes and Otley earned a penalty, converting that into a try two phases later as Sam Waddington burst through with Joe Rowntree converting.

Back came Fylde 11 minutes later when Otley suffered a yellow card and Tye Raymont forced his way over for their only score of the half .

Every time Fylde gifted possession to Otley, they were made to pay for it as they conceded again on 22 minutes.

Otley’s left-winger made three defenders miss far too easily and fed inside to Clark Wells, who danced through the cover for their second try.

Things became worse on the half-hour as another misfiring lineout ultimately resulted in Ed Crossland weaving over from 25 yards.

Rowntree converted both tries, meaning Fylde were 21-5 down at half-time and struggling to create any sustained fluency or pressure.

A much better second half would be required but things did not start well as Rowntree kicked a breakdown penalty within two minutes.

Trailing 24-5, Fylde’s deficit grew further on 48 minutes when a scrum saw two quick wide passes put Wells in for his second try.

Fylde finally found some accuracy and zip to their play, Gregory and Ben Turner combining to feed Freddie Deeks, who went through heavy traffic for their second try.

Greg Smith converted from wide out and Fylde wondered if they had a sniff of a way back in at 29-12 down; hopes that lasted a full two minutes.

A penalty was conceded straight from the restart, Gavin Stead kicking it to make the score 32-12.

Stead wasn’t finished there as, five minutes later, he finished off another midfield break and converted his own try.

Leading 39-12, the home team took just another four minutes to extend their lead further, as Louis Martin scored a sixth try with Stead converting once again.

With Fylde out of sorts, injuries weren’t helping either as Smith, Sam Parker, Ethan Hall-Lyon and Toby Harrison either all left the field or carried on as walking wounded at various points.

Fylde, to their credit, found a way to rescue something from the game as despite having multiple players out of position, they managed to wrestle their way back into proceedings.

On 68 minutes, a catch-and-drive five-yard lineout was set up and Gregory marshalled his troops to smuggle him over.

Then, with the last move of the game, Fylde manufactured a carbon copy as Gregory’s second try earned a bonus point.

Otley: Holmes, Dinsdale, Wells (Martin), Stead, Graham, Crossland, Rowntree (Gaffney), Nicholls, Gibson (Mudd), Moss (Baxter), Johnson (Bowen), Preston-Routledge, Waddington, Mullin, Malthouse.

Fylde RFC: Dorrington (Clayton), Turner, Stott (Parker), Rawlings, Lanigan, Smith (Kincart), Gould, Bowker (Brooks), Gregory, Raymont, Garrod, Parkinson, Parker (Hall-Lyon), Harrison, Bentley.