Fylde RFC claimed a hard-fought win at the Woodlands on Saturday.

Fylde RFC earned their first home win of the National Two North season with victory over Sheffield Tigers on Saturday, writes ANGUS SLATER.

The home side had endured a difficult build-up during the week, coping with injuries and unavailability.

It meant their 20-player squad was perhaps as young a group as Fylde have selected for a National League game.

After a scrappy opening five minutes, Fylde won a penalty deep in Tigers territory and earned a lineout just five metres out.

While their visitors stood strong, another penalty gave Fylde an opportunity on seven minutes and they didn’t waste it.

A clean lineout led to a powerful driving maul, which saw James Sutcliffe score and Danny Cassidy convert from the touchline for a 7-0 lead.

Fylde’s pressure continued as a Ben Turner line break and kick forced Sheffield’s Jamie Rudd into conceding a drop out, which ended with a home knock-on.

Another knock-on halted a break by Gabe Maguire, after which set-pieces became the Tigers’ salvation with multiple penalties won at the scrum meaning that Fylde were under immense pressure.

After knocking on at a five-metre scrum, the visitors earned another penalty and kicked for the corner.

The subsequent lineout finally broke through as Jacob Jameison scored and Tom O’Brien converted to make it 7-7 on 29 minutes.

Fylde responded within six minutes as Ashton Kasam-Sharples picked a gap between two defenders and passed to Lincoln Gladwin, who walked in for their second try.

Leading 12-7 at half-time, Fylde lost Kasam-Sharples but started the second half strongly and scored again on 45 minutes.

Cassidy exchanged passes with Harry Marsh, Kasam-Sharples’ replacement, before an unselfish pass put Turner over for a converted try.

A poor clearing kick after the restart saw the Tigers earn a penalty advantage as they worked the ball along the line and Silas Talbot dodged his way through to score.

Then, on the hour, O’Brien broke through the Fylde defence before finding Dominic Santamaria who scored in the corner.

O’Brien converted with a kick from the touchline, levelling the scores at 19-19 as much rested on the teams’ ability to dominate possession and territory.

The Tigers returned to the Fylde half but the ball was stolen and worked to the flank, where Turner broke into the visitors’ 22.

A penalty at the breakdown was kicked to the corner for a five-metre lineout, with the resulting pressure ending in a close-range try for Oliver Spencer.

The missed conversion left Fylde 24-19 ahead with just 12 minutes remaining.

Seeking a response, handling errors by the Tigers gave Fylde a scrum just outside their 22.

With Fylde picking the perfect time to win a first scrum penalty, it looked as if they would extend a slim lead but Cassidy struck the post.

He made no mistake though when presented with another penalty 30 metres out, slotting it over to put Fylde eight points clear.

Although Sheffield continued to attack, stout defence and a dropped ball meant they could not make it over the line.

Fylde RFC: Cassidy, Turner, Kelso, Durcan, Gladwin, Gaughan, Maguire; Spencer, Sutcliffe, King, Greenwood, Garrod, Morgan, Kasam-Sharples, Walton. Replacements: Hulme, Frend, Quinn, Macaulay, Marsh.

Sheffield Tigers: Rudd, O’Brien, Fenton, Mitchell, Dodsworth, Cliff, Talbot; Bennett, Jameison, Williams, Fitzsimons, Harrison, Santamaria, Goff, Crowe. Replacements: Fretwell, Wand, Wright, Fenton, Woolgar-Norton.