A vote of confidence for the Fylde RFC squad

The Woodlands club have lost three of their four National Two North fixtures since the extended break, most recently a 32-28 home upset against Sheffield Tigers last weekend.

All three defeats have seen Fylde forced to chase the game after conceding two early tries, though against Chester and the Tigers they fought back and had chances to win.

Joint-head coach Briers told the Gazette: “We don’t seem to have found our flow since Christmas and we have had a bit of disruption with injuries.

“We did find ourselves under pressure from the start against Sheffield Tigers and let a couple of tries in, but we did get on top and had a lot of possession.

“We felt we were coming back into it and went into the second half (trailing 15-14) looking to keep doing what we were doing.

“On a couple of occasions we got into dangerous positions and made errors. We lost focus at key moments, when we should have got over the line and scored.

“The injuries have made it tough but we are working hard in training to get back to where we were. We have the same capabilities we had before Christmas.”

There may be little at stake for fourth-placed Fylde as they enter the final third of the campaign – they are 21 points behind third-placed Lymm and 30 adrift of pacesetters Leeds Tykes – but Briers says the attitude remains first-class.

He added: “The players definitely want to turn up and play, and they want to work hard. They have a positive attitude and we can’t fault that.

“It can be a sub-conscious thing, though, when you play a team who are mad keen, like Billingham were (when they beat Fylde 39-17 a fortnight ago).

“They were really up for it after the previous game against us (which was abandoned at half-time) and were fighting for everything, while we were a little off the pace.

“When you are playing teams at the bottom, you really have to be right on the money because you know they will make it tough.”

Saturday’s opponents are rock-bottom Harrogate, who have won twice all season and are on a seven-game losing streak since November.

Fylde racked up their biggest score of the season against them at the Woodlands, winning 61-14 on October 19, and will be anxious to get back on track across the Pennines (2pm) before hosting Lymm the following week.

There could be another opportunity for scrum-half Lewis Kincart, who made a tryscoring debut against the Tigers.

Kincart’s brother, Robbie, was given a start at hooker the previous week and Briers said: “Lewis joined us at the end of last season but got an injury. He’s been waiting for an opportunity and did well on Saturday.”

Another forced to wait patiently has been Adam Lanigan, who came off the bench for his 100th appearance against the Tigers.

“Adam has come back from a serious injury but we knew his time would come,” said Briers. “It was a case of making sure he was back to where he needs to be.”