Fylde RFC 17 Darlington Mowden Park 17: Hard-fought clash between two teams who cannot be separated

The visitors started Saturday’s game strongly, controlling much of the ball and momentum.

This became an issue for Fylde who, after 10 minutes, found themselves on their own line after back-to-back penalties.

Darlington managed to muscle their way over but a huge defensive effort saw the ball held up.

A few phases later and it was Fylde’s turn to attack, as a loose ball eventually ended with holes being created in the defence for a line break.

Tom Forster’s final offload was perfect and Ben Turner crossed in the corner to put Fylde 5-0 in front on 14 minutes.

They kept that lead until the half-hour, when Danny Cassidy spilled the ball in a tackle and it was then kicked upfield.

The home side lost the chase and there was nothing that could have been done to stop the four-man overload on the left.

Kieran Forbes was the scorer, though the try was unconverted which meant the scores were 5-5 at half-time.

Fylde began the second half well, moving deep into the visitors’ 22.

Cassidy ran a clever line to break the ranks and, after a quick juggle of the ball, touched down to make it 10-5 on 43 minutes.

Again, however, the lead did not last as Darlington put together phases in the Fylde 22 10 minutes later.

The ball was thrown wide to James Bent, who twisted and turned before flying past the Fylde defence to score their second try.

It was also the first score to be converted, which meant that Fylde had just under half an hour to turn around the 12-10 scoreline.

They did not require all of that time, however, as the ball was taken back moments after the restart.

It was moved into the hands of the backs, with a superb running and passing move eventually seeing the ball reach Turner.

The winger flew down the line, but still had work to do when two defenders rushed back.

He kept his composure and stepped inside both of them to score, restoring Fylde’s lead before Cassidy landed the conversion.

It looked like Fylde may have been able to hold on but, with 12 minutes to go, Darlington got back on terms.

A loose Fylde lineout, which wasn’t the first, gifted them the ball and the pressure was on.

Fylde’s defence was good until a man stepped out of the line and the gap opened up for Liam Checksfield to score, though a missed conversion left it 17-17.

A tense finish saw the visitors desperate to claim victory and, in the last minute, they were awarded a penalty in a kickable position.

The crowd held its breath but erupted when the ball blew comfortably right of the posts.

Will Hunt then made the decision to kick the ball clear, protecting the points Fylde would pick up from a hard-fought draw.

Fylde RFC: Clayton, Turner, Cassidy, Forster, Lanigan, Hunt, Maguire; Bowker, Trippier, King, Walton, Greenwood, Quinn, Harrison, Fairbrother. Replacements: Rudkin, Sutcliffe, Morgan, Macaulay, Altham.

Darlington Mowden Park: Ward, Callaghan, Checksfield, Mackenzie, Bent, Newton, Douglas; Barron, Wood, Clark, Coulston, Forbes, Thompson, Craggs, Butterill. Replacements: Vaioletti, Uzokwe, Booth, Johnston, Dyer.