Fylde RFC 35 Hull RUFC 8: Defence lays foundation for victory

It was far from that as the visitors dominated possession and territory for long periods but Fylde had the much superior strike power.

Having seen team-mate Will Hall depart injured in the third minute, Hull’s Reece Dean opened the scoring with a 12th-minute penalty.

Fylde responded a minute later when a fine attack ended with Greg Smith chipping beautifully to the corner, where Sam Carleton outran the defenders to score.

On 21 minutes, Smith finished off a backs move to score with the subsequent conversion making the score 14-3.

It was time for Hull to up their efforts and to lay siege to the Fylde line, only to see home defenders blocking their way.

A number of penalties were conceded from scrummaging and tackling offences, another pile-up ending with Tom Forster being yellow-carded.

It looked as though Hull would make their numerical advantage tell but Fylde held out to maintain their 11-point cushion.

The Fylde coaches changed props at the interval, with Peter Altham and Alex Brooks replacing Corey Bowker and Tye Raymont; both of whom had put in hefty shifts.

An early Fylde penalty was kicked to within 15 metres of the Hull line and the subsequent driving maul ended with Ben Gregory scoring his 16th try of the season.

Smith once more converted from wide out and, while Fylde’s 21-3 lead looked convincing on the scoreboard, it was somewhat different in the trenches.

Hull roared back into the attack for another period of pressure on the Fylde line, spurred on by their impressive scrum-half James Naylor.

A number of penalty decisions enabled lineouts and scrums but, despite seeing Matt Garrod sinbinned, Fylde’s defence didn’t buckle.

Two minutes after being given a break, Fylde’s Tanē Bentley returned to replace fellow flanker Ethan Hall-Lyon, who suffered what looked like a serious injury.

Still down a player, Fylde broke and attacked in the right corner where Bentley forced his way over for the bonus point-earning fourth try.

Smith once again converted from the touchline for a 28-3 lead, after which Ben Turner came on for Adam Lanigan and Garrod returned in the 60th minute.

Seven minutes later, Hull were 30 metres from the Fylde line but the ball went loose and Turner collected.

He hared downfield, chased by a couple of desperate Hull backs, but a change of direction helped him race under the posts with Smith adding the extras.

The try of the day, however, came on 72 minutes through Hull’s Yorkshire Academy prop, Tomas Bairstow.

In possession on halfway, he broke a couple of tackles before racing clear, putting in a grubber kick and regathering before two Fylde defenders could get to him.

Victory saw Fylde move up to fourth in National Two North before heading to Billingham next Saturday and hosting Wharfedale the week after .

Fylde: Dorrington, Carleton, Forster (Rawlings 47), Stott (Forster 69), Lanigan (Turner 59), Smith, Gould, Bowker (Brooks 40), Gregory, Raymont (Altham 40), Parkinson, Garrod, Hall-Lyon (Bentley 56), Bentley (Parker 53, Raymont 63), Harrison.

Hull RUFC: Trueman, Astley, Hudson-Kowalewicz, Heard, Davidson, Dean, Naylor, Major (Russell 40), Jobling, Bairstow, Regardsoe (Major 61), Addy, Halaifonua, Renouf, Hall (Beech 3, Penn 22). Non-playing replacements: Uriburu, Barratt.