Fylde RFC camp rues a slow start to the new year
Alex Loney admitted a four-week break hadn’t helped Fylde RFC as they started the second half of the National Two North season with a 25-19 defeat at Chester.
Having ended 2024 with back-to-back wins, Fylde looked rusty as they fell to a fifth defeat of the campaign last Saturday.
Joint-head coach Loney told The Gazette: “Of course every team had the same gap but we felt like a team that hadn’t played for a while.
“We did all we could in terms of training and preparation, but that performance was closer to us at the start of the season than at Christmas in terms of errors.
“We’ve analysed the game. We couldn’t force enough pressure for the win and, ultimately, weren’t good enough.”
Two early Dafydd Williams tries gave the hosts a flying start and Chester were always ahead, preventing Fylde from scoring again after Matt Garrod’s effort two minutes into the second half.
Loney added: “Chester started well and put us under pressure. We got back into it – with a bit of good fortune because they missed a few chances – and got the scoreline quite close but we couldn’t close out the win.
“We did have a lot of chances to score in the second half and we’re disappointed not to. There was a lot in that performance we could have done better.”
Fylde were disrupted by the loss of Sam Parker and Sebi Krippner to first-half injuries.
Loney felt for both players and said: “We needed to give Sam a start after coming off the bench, but he’s banged his hand and we need to find out where he is at.
“Sebi has done well with the seconds. He scored four tries last time out and we felt Saturday was the right time for him, but he tweaked his hamstring.
“We don’t think it's a full-blown injury but you have to be sensible.”
Fylde look to bounce back in tomorrow’s first home game of the year against a Hull Ionians side who have made a habit of losing very close games this season.
“We had a really good game there (Fylde won 35-32) and they ran Leeds really close last weekend (Leeds won 33-28),” said Loney.
“The top three may be well clear but that result shows how tight this league is.
“Any team can run any other pretty close, so you have to be on your mettle every week.
“We haven’t become a different team since Christmas. We still have the same quality and we have to respond on Saturday.”
Fylde remain fourth but are now above Wharfedale on points difference only and are 21 points adrift of third-placed Sheffield.