Fylde RFC 38 Huddersfield 5: Hosts continue to dominate at the Woodlands

A chilly day at the Woodlands saw Fylde looking to build on their win at Loughborough Students a week earlier.

The visitors had also made a winning start to the year with victory against bottom side Blaydon.

Fylde’s coaches made one change to their starting line-up, Scott Rawlings failing to recover from a knock he picked up at Loughborough.

In came Joe Bedlow, who had joined the club earlier in the week from Sale Sharks on a dual registration basis.

He was following in the footsteps of elder brother Sam, who made 24 first-team appearances for Fylde before going on to represent Bristol Bears in the Premiership.

Ben Turner also returned to the bench in the only other change for Fylde, as they went in search of another bonus point victory.

Fylde knocked on from the kick-off but Bedlow wasted no time in getting involved as a crunching tackle on a Huddersfield player set the tone for the game.

There was little to separate the two teams early on, and the visitors thought they had scored when a driving maul from a lineout saw them power over the line, only for the ball to be held up by a Fylde defender.

It seemed to be the wake-up call that Fylde needed though, as they produced a driving maul of their own close to the Huddersfield line.

David Fairbrother made no mistake in putting the ball down to get the home side up and running, Greg Smith converting to make it 7-0.

Although Huddersfield were dominating possession, they were unable to find their way through a Fylde defence which stood firm against what was thrown at them.

Huddersfield’s Joe Potter tried to get them on the board with a 28th minute penalty but missed his attempt.

Fylde punished them with Harlan Corrie going over from the back of the ruck to extend their advantage, Smith converting again.

A brilliant sweeping move from Fylde’s backs then opened up the Huddersfield defence, only for the ball to then go to ground.

That pretty much summed up the first half for the hosts, who hadn’t really hit top gear but still had a 14-0 lead at the break.

The second half began well for Fylde, when Bedlow sent Tom Carleton through the line before Henry Hadfield found Tom Grimes to score in the corner.

Smith was unable to convert from the touchline before the visitors hit back when Ross Thornton powered over from close range to leave Fylde 19-5 ahead.

A brief period followed in which neither side had full control but, when a Fylde attack looked like it had broken down close to the Huddersfield line, Hadfield picked up the pieces and darted over to score in the corner.

Smith missed the conversion but Fylde were back in control and went further ahead on 71 minutes.

Bedlow intercepted a long pass to go over for a debut try, converted by Ben Gregory, who again added the extras to complete the scoring after Matt Garrod had also gone over.

Fylde’s next game is an away trip to Harrogate before welcoming an undefeated Rotherham side on January 29.

Fylde RFC: Forster, Hadfield, Carleton, Bedlow, Grimes, Smith, Sturgess, Kyle-Clay, Gregory, Ashcroft, Parkinson, Garrod, Corrie, O’Ryan, Fairbrother. Replacements: Bowker, Higgins, Blake, Turner, Lanigan.

Huddersfield: Hodson, Stewart, Workman, Law, Catleugh, Potter, Mason, Thompson, Thornton, Rollins, Pearson, Sharpe, Stapley, Parfitt, Brown. Replacements: Brook, Bradley, Davis, Brook, Milner.

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