Fylde RFC 34 Chester 29: Battling to victory on day one

The National Two North Division match was only the seventh league meeting between the two sides.

It saw Fylde hand a debut to Sam Stott with Jordan Dorrington and Toby Harrison also back after rejoining the club.

Connor Wilkinson returned at centre after missing nearly all of last season, though Peter Altham was absent through injury.

Chester kicked off and won the ball back immediately when Fylde failed to retain the ball in the ruck.

A penalty was then awarded to the visitors, who saw Liam Reeve open the scoring to give them an early 3-0 lead.

Fylde responded well and started to enjoy some possession in the Chester half.

The visitors were temporarily reduced to 14 men when winger Harrison Vale interfered as Matt Sturgess attempted to take a quick penalty.

Fylde made sure they took advantage of having the extra man, captain Ben Gregory powering over from close range and Greg Smith converting.

Reeve slotted over another penalty before Fylde capitalised on a knock-on by the Chester line, spinning the ball wide to find Tom Carleton who crossed in the corner for a 12-6 lead.

Fylde were lacking any fluency though, especially struggling at the lineout, and the visitors continued to chip away at the home defence.

Reeve managed to add another two penalty goals, the second of which came just before half-time to make it 12-12 at the break.

Fylde went back in front at the start of the second half as Smith landed a penalty, only to see Harlan Corrie sent to the sinbin on 50 minutes.

It didn’t prevent them from extending their lead as Wilkinson went over to make it 22-12.

Chester responded with two converted tries in as many minutes, Alex Reed and Gwion Williams going over to see them 26-22 in front and leaving Fylde with 20 minutes to reply.

The visitors were then back down to 14 men when Shaun Owen was sinbinned and Fylde made them pay as Gregory scored his second from close range with Smith converting.

That saw them 29-26 ahead before they scored again in the 77th minute when Carleton found himself with the ball and in space.

In trademark fashion, he burst through a gap and went on to touch down for his second try of the game, seemingly wrapping up victory for the home team in the process.

Smith was unable to convert, meaning Fylde led 34-26 before Reeve kicked a penalty on the final whistle to give Chester a losing bonus point.

Although it was a performance that was anything but their best, Fylde still managed to dig deep in preparation for their derby day trip to Preston Grasshoppers.

Fylde: Carleton, Dorrington, C Wilkinson, Stott, Grimes, Smith, Sturgess, Barrow, Gregory, Ashcroft, Parkinson, Garrod, Corrie, Harrison, Fairbrother. Replacements: Higgins, Parker, O’Ryan, Rawlings, Lanigan.

Chester: Long, Williams, Green, Hampson, Vare, Reeve, Holloway, Woods, Robson, Williams, Charmley, H Wilkinson, Joseph, Baxter, Cox. Replacements: Reed, Croft, Furnival, Owen, Craven.

Referee: James O’Brien.

Attendance: 540.