Lancashire rugby boss Loney reflects on key turning point in County Championship final
Disappointment for Fylde coach and players as Cornwall prevail in end-of-season showpiece
Head coach Alex Loney can look back with pride on Lancashire's valiant display in defeat to Cornwall in rugby union's County Championship final – but he rues “the point when the game was won and lost”.
Having battled back to tie the match at 24-24, a Red Rose squad including 11 Fylde RFC players couldn’t maintain momentum and went down 39-24 in Saturday's Twickenham showpiece.
Fylde forward Ashton Kasam-Sharples had scored one try and played a key role in the next to level the scores early in the second half, but his Woodlands boss Loney told The Gazette: “We'd got a hold of the match. We'd got it back to 24-24 with a Cornwall player in the sin-bin, but we didn't seize that moment and capitalise on it.
“They handled that period really well and congratulations to them. We have no qualms about them getting the victory.
“They started the stronger, particularly in the scrum, and put us under pressure. When Jordan Dorrington took a head injury (the Fylde centre was forced off after only two minutes) they got on a roll, but we got into the game and showed what we could do.”
Cornwall have lifted the trophy which bears the name of Fylde great Sir Bill Beaumont three times since Lancashire's 25th and latest triumph in 2018, though the try which swung momentum back their way at the Allianz Stadium was a debatable one.
“The next try was controversial and we did feel hard done by because I have no doubt there was an obstruction,” added Loney. “But we're not focusing on that incident because we had lost field position leading up to it.
“The players were pretty disappointed because we desperately wanted to win. Some of them spoke really well in the huddle afterwards. They acknowledged the effort and what we'd done to get there and to compete in a really exciting final.”
And the idea of taking charge of the county side for a fifth time next year is as exciting as ever for Loney.
“The competition always seems to be under some scrutiny but I love coaching Lancashire,” he said.
“I have a really good relationship with the management and a lot of things keep pulling me towards it.”
After a relentless 10-month campaign, Loney can enjoy three weeks off before pre-season training gets underway at Fylde.
There's already an intriguing fixture to look forward to, after Loney confirmed the second warm-up game will be against Scottish Premiership club Kelso on August 22.
“A rugby contact reached out and put us in touch, and we said we were keen,” said Loney, who is looking forward to a well-earned break before preparing for the visit from the historic Borders club.