Fylde RFC's character-building victory going into derby day

Fylde overturned a 22-0 half-time deficit at home to Wharfedale, avoiding a third straight defeat in National Two North with a last-gasp 31-30 victory.

This “show of real character” pleased joint-head coach Chris Briers, who told The Gazette: “It wasn’t the one-way first half the scoreline may suggest.

“We got into their 22 several times and created opportunities. We didn’t finish those and they capitalised on our mistakes.

“The message at half-time was not to try to do too much straight away but make sure we kept hold of the ball.

“We’ve scored a lot of points in one half in quite a lot of games, so there was no reason we couldn’t do that again if we tightened up on a few things.

“There was good determination there and after scoring two tries, we really started to believe.”

Briers certainly believed in Patrick Bishop when the Fylde fly-half was presented with a penalty to win the match in the dying seconds.

He said: “It wasn’t the most straightforward of kicks but, knowing Pat’s record so far this season, I felt confident he would make it.

“Despite the pressure it was possibly his best strike of the game.

“It was good to be on the right side of a close finish after the previous two games.

“It's easy to let a couple of defeats get to you but we haven’t been far off in those games.

“We haven’t been well beaten and we’ve had a few tough calls, particularly in the Leeds game.”

Fylde now head to Lightfoot Green with a winning mindset as they look to maintain their perfect derby record since Hoppers’ return to N2N in 2022.

September’s fifth straight victory over their neighbours was a close call at the Woodlands, finishing 22-20.

If the Wharfedale game was good preparation for the derby, so was the attendance – among the top six for a rugby union fixture in England last weekend.

Briers said: “It was great to play in front of more than 1,000 and we’ll do that again against Hoppers.

“From a club perspective, it’s a good time to have these derbies just before Christmas because you get a decent crowd which supports the clubs.

“It’s good for the squad to play in front of a big crowd but you hope that helps them to perform at their best.

“Nerves can come into it and as a coach you don’t want players worrying, so you try not to build these games up too much.”

Hoppers, who are on a four-match losing run, stand 14 points and six places behind Fylde in 10th.