Fylde 26 Hull 28: Table toppers edge to Woodlands win

Fylde made two changes to the starting line-up that fell to defeat against Stourbridge last week, Henry Hadfield returning from suspension and Zach Barrow starting at loose-head prop.

Hull were reduced to 14 men with barely a minute gone when Matt Sturgess took a quick penalty tap and found Tom Carleton, who was then caught by a high tackle from Hull’s full-back Reece Dean.

He was sent to the sinbin and Fylde made the extra man count immediately when David Fairbrother strolled in at the corner to open the scoring, Greg Smith converting from the touchline for a 7-0 lead in the fifth minute.

They scored again in the ninth minute when Smith threw the ball out to the right and Ben Gregory powered over, Smith’s conversion making it 14-0.

Hull hadn’t quite sprung into gear yet but started to find their rhythm when it came to the breakdown, strong scrummaging allowing them to win penalties and build pressure on the Fylde line.

Fylde were also reduced to 14 men in the 23rd minute when Ben O’Ryan was sinbinned for a deliberate knock-on, joined six minutes later by Adam Lewis for bringing down a maul near the Fylde line.

After 10 minutes of continuous pressure at the scrums, Hull were awarded a penalty try for another infringement on the Fylde line to halve their deficit at 14-7.

Towards the end of the first half, both teams were stuck in a stalemate at the breakdown but the Fylde defence did well to hold out for as long as they did without conceding.

However, Fylde hit back on the stroke of half-time when Carleton touched down out wide to see them 19-7 ahead at the break.

A stronger start to the second half from the visitors saw them get the scoring underway in the 48th minute when Kean Naylor dived over from close range, Simon Humberstone with the conversion.

Hull then went ahead as they shifted the ball out to Dean, who squeezed through a gap and managed to get the ball down with Humberstone’s conversion putting them 21-19 in front.

Back came Fylde as, in the 64th minute, Smith produced a pinpoint kick out to the left corner where Gregory grabbed the loose ball to score with the conversion making it 26-21.

A back and forth contest then saw Hull score again in the 73rd minute when Dean raced through a gap to score, adding a conversion to give them a two-point lead.

Carleton made a brilliant break, which almost led to Tom Grimes going in at the corner, but Hull held out and were relieved to hear the final whistle.

Fylde: Carleton, Hadfield, Forster, Rawlings, Grimes, Smith, Sturgess, Barrow (Kyle-Clay 23, Barrow 48), Gregory, Ashcroft (Lewis 23, Ashcroft 65), Parkinson, Garrod, Corrie, O’Ryan (Blake 61), Fairbrother. Non-playing replacements: Turner, Lanigan.

Hull: Dean, Adlard, Turaga, Johnson, Naylor, Humberstone (Trueman 63), Harding (Crane 72), Kivalu (Beech 26, Jobling 60), Thompson, Jobling (Boothman 26, Kivalu 79), Curry, Regardsoe, Makaafi (Cowen 70), Cowen (Jones 60), Hall.