Fylde RFC look for an immediate response to Wharfedale defeat

The Woodlands squad goes into the game on the back of last weekend’s 24-7 home loss against Wharfedale.

That result left them 10 points behind Sheffield in the race for third place and also enabled fifth-placed Wharfedale to close within three points of Fylde with two games in hand.

It ended a run of five consecutive victories which, in turn, came on the back of six defeats in seven; a run which started with consecutive one-point losses to Wharfedale and Lymm.

Having lost to Wharfedale again, they will be anxious to avoid a second defeat against ninth-placed Lymm, who have lost both of their games this year.

Fylde’s joint-head coach, Alex Loney, told The Gazette, “We lost very narrowly to Wharfedale and Lymm earlier in the season and we don’t want back-to-back defeats again.

“There’s still a lot of work to do. The immediate focus will be on the obvious fixes from Saturday’s game and then we work on how to improve in the longer term.

“We were left bitterly disappointed on Saturday and we want a reaction, so hopefully we will be highly motivated at Lymm.

“We’ve picked up no new injuries and it could be that we have a few more to come in for the weekend, so hopefully we’ll have good availability.”

Loney admitted there was no cause for complaint after Wharfedale ended Fylde’s five-match winning run.

The game was decided in the last 10 minutes with the scores having been level at 7-7.

It ended with Wharfedale – who had previously seen two players sinbinned – scoring two converted tries and a penalty to secure victory.

“I have no complaints about Saturday’s defeat,” Loney said.

“It was 7-7 for a long time in a tight match and they proved to be the better side in the final 10 minutes.

“It's disappointing because we can’t say we didn’t have opportunities.

“We had plenty of ball and territory, and we should have been more accurate and decisive.

“We couldn’t convert the pressure we had and they are a good side who defended well.

“Their two sinbinnings were a key part of the game.

“When they were losing men, we should have pressed on, but we didn’t and the rest is history.

“I don’t think it was an energy thing in the final few minutes, it was more about concentration and mental application.

“We did back up some errors when they scored their second try late on and they defended with lots of energy, so fair play to them.”