Fylde RFC suffered consecutive defeats in National Two North after losing on Saturday.

Fylde RFC endured another frustrating afternoon in National Two North as, for the second successive match, they fell away after being in the game at half-time.

It was the hosts who started in the ascendancy and they took the lead after just five minutes.

A driving lineout looked to have been held up, but the referee awarded a penalty try and sent Ashton Kasam-Sharples to the sinbin for collapsing the maul.

Three minutes later, the visitors belied the numerical disadvantage with their opening score.

The ball reached Will Kelso, who beat his man before kicking ahead with Gabe Maguire winning the race to collect the ball and score, though Danny Cassidy’s conversion hit the post.

Ionians extended their lead in the 10th minute, when a misread in defence on halfway gave them field position and Ben Hyde broke the retreating defence.

Fylde again replied within three minutes as a driving maul ended with James Sutcliffe the last man up.

They took the lead midway through the half, when patient build-up play by the pack was followed by Alex Clayton’s long pass which sent Kelso over.

Cassidy now had his eye in and added the extras to give Fylde a 17-12 advantage.

That lead was extended on 28 minutes with a bonus-point try as Mike Walton took a quick tap penalty five metres out and stretched out to score.

However, the home team narrowed the gap straight from the kick-off.

The kick was knocked on and compounded by a player in an offside position, playing the ball.

Ionians kicked the resulting penalty to the corner before driving over and reducing their deficit to three points.

Fylde’s lead disappeared as a penalty for a high tackle was kicked to the corner and Oliver Arnold was in for his second try.

Despite trailing 26-22 at the break, Fylde had shown signs they were very much in the game.

That optimism was punctured within a minute of the restart, when Clayton’s attempted chip on his own 22 was charged down.

Cassidy cleaned up but, from the resulting lineout, a maul saw Arnold complete his hat-trick.

Another try followed on 49 minutes, when a speculative kick saw Ionians benefit from the bounce of the ball before it was recycled.

Then, on the hour, another penalty, lineout and drive saw Fylde facing down the barrel as they trailed 45-22.

However, the next score was the try of the afternoon but - very much against the run of play - it came from Fylde.

Ionians had looked primed to add to their tally but the referee spotted an obstruction.

Maguire took a quick tap penalty five metres from his own line before the ball reached Ben Turner on the wing and he raced down the touchline to score, Cassidy converting.

Normal service was resumed with 12 minutes left, as a scrum penalty kick to the corner and drive brought up the hosts’ half-century.

An eighth try ended proceedings as some tired defence allowed Hyde in for his fourth try.

Hull Ionians: Morton, Arnold, Melhuish, Makin, Gillingwater, Newell, Sanderson, Hyde; Pocklington, Smith; Rimmington, Howells, Deighton, Hudson-Kowalewicz, Holden. Replacements: Carlile, Mitchell, Stephenson, Hanson-Church, Goode.

Fylde RFC: King, Sutcliffe, Rudkin, Greenwood, Morgan, Wilkinson, Kasam-Sharples, Walton; Maguire, Clayton; Turner, Forster, Durcan, Kelso, Cassidy. Replacements: Assad, Frend, Senior, Marsh, Gladwin.