Fylde welcomed Preston Grasshoppers to the Woodlands for Saturday’s National Two North derby.

Derby day in National Two North saw Fylde RFC beaten 31-12 in their first home fixture of the season as Preston Grasshoppers deservedly came out on top at the Woodlands, writes ANGUS SLATER.

Hoppers were first to strike after two minutes on Saturday, as Sam Kyle-Clay was quickest to react to a loose ball after careless work near the Fylde line.

He drove over for the first try, Sam Freeman adding the conversion.

Fylde reacted well but struggles at the lineouts and scrummages hampered their progress.

However, at the 20-minute mark, they got on the board when Adam Lanigan was brought down by a high tackle when racing to the line.

Freeman received a yellow card and Fylde capitalised on their player advantage as a rolling maul ended with James Sutcliffe touching down.

Trailing 7-5, Fylde could not make the most of the player advantage as a driving maul helped Kyle-Clay to score his second try and make it 12-5 on 25 minutes.

Both teams tried to play attacking rugby but missed chances littered the rest of the first half.

Kyle-Clay dropped the ball metres short before Fylde defended bravely and saw out the half to trail by seven points at the break.

The second half opened with a powerful break from Leo Gilliland taking him deep into Hoppers’ half.

He offloaded to Gabe Maguire, who would have scored but for a last-ditch tackle.

A tap-and-go penalty saw Fylde get close to the line but Hoppers’ defence would not yield.

Another last-ditch tackle denied Lanigan before Preston’s gallant defence paid off as a miscommunication gave them a lineout 22 metres out.

Slick play ended with Jacob Browne scoring the visitors’ third try, which Freeman converted for a 17-5 lead.

Ben Turner was brought on to make his 100th appearance for Fylde, replacing Lanigan who had to return following a painful knock for Dan Slawson.

Some free-flowing rugby ended with a forward pass thwarting Fylde, who saw Ashton Kasam-Sharples force a turnover deep in their 22 before turning defence into attack.

He took Fylde past the halfway line but, when a Hoppers player pounced on a loose ball and found Browne, he took the chance and scored his second try of the game.

Freeman’s conversion made it 24-5 and Fylde’s misery was compounded by a serious injury to Gilliland, who was replaced by Vinny Durcan.

Hoppers looked set to score again as Browne was quickest in reacting to a floating ball, only to be brought down by a high tackle.

It did not stop them from recycling the ball with Dec Norrington able to get the ball up over the line for their fifth try of the afternoon.

Freeman converted yet again and, to add insult to Fylde injury, Danny Cassidy received a yellow for foul play.

Theo Hulbert had the last word though as he powered under the posts for Fylde’s second try and Cassidy’s conversion completed the scoring.

Fylde: Cassidy; Lanigan (Greenwood 71), Kelso, Forster, Gilliland (Durcan 64); Slawson (Lanigan 57), Maguire; Hulbert, Sutcliffe (Trippier 22, Sutcliffe 40), Rudkin (King 72), Greenwood (Morgan 69), Garrod, Wilkinson, Kasam-Sharples, Walton.

Preston Grasshoppers: Freeman; Browne, Jennings, Russell (Ree 70), Maher; Ree (Walker 52), Sturgess (Brand 65); Parkinson (Corless 77), Kyle-Clay (Holden 46), Corless (Ryan 40), Castle, Causey, Richardson, Holden (Ashcroft 23), Ailes (Causey 75).