Hull Ionians 45 Fylde RFC 36: Frailties exposed on Humberside

They scored some wonderful tries but made too many errors and conceded more points than in any other game this season.

Leaking a sixth try in the last move of the game cost Fylde a second bonus point on a day they contributed in large measure to their own downfall.

On a beautiful sunny day at Brantingham Park, Fylde controlled the ball for the first few minutes.

But when patience was needed, a forced pass was intercepted by Ionians scrum-half Sam Pocklington and he raced fully 80 yards for a try.

Full-back Lewis Minikin would convert all six tries and had a fine day all-round.

Back came Fylde, a penalty by Greg Smith making it 7-3 before they sneaked ahead for the only time in the game on 16 minutes.

From a scrum on their own 10-yard line, a set move in the backs saw Henry Hadfield slice through, draw the last defender and put Tom Forster in for a fine try, goaled by Smith.

The 10-7 lead didn’t last long as Minikin kicked a penalty on 21 minutes to tie the scores, then a high-risk offload by Hadfield under pressure from a kick enabled opposite winger Nathan Hill to score a converted try.

Fylde soon made it 17-all as Matt Sturgess recycled a kick out of defence and spun the ball to Tom Carleton, who raced between the posts for Smith to goal.

Fylde conceded a penalty straight from the restart and then had Oli Parkinson sin-binned for hauling down the resulting catch-and-drive.

Another lineout and drive then released the Ionians backs, who found a sizeable gap for Minikin to touch down.

The tit-for-tat scoring continued as Fylde broke and Hadfield took the final pass to score.

Smith’s conversion slid wide, meaning Ionians took a narrow 24-22 lead into the break.

Fylde started the second half slowly, struggling to create any sustained rhythm while errors were putting them under too much pressure.

The home team stretched their lead to nine points on 49 minutes, when impressive flanker Kobby Opoku-Fofie forced his way over.

Fylde finally managed some phased and patient play and were rewarded with Parkinson crashing over in the right corner. Smith's conversion from out wide cut the deficit to 31-29.

Fylde made changes in the front row as they sought to exert control but they still seemed intent on shooting themselves in both feet, with Charlie Partington ordered off for a 10-minute rest.

Another Ionians penalty to the corner set up a wave of pick-and-go attempts, the fourth one earning a try for flanker James Sanderson to put his side two scores clear again.

Fylde forced a spell of pressure and overstretched the defence, despite their numerical disadvantage, for Tom Grimes to score and Smith to add his fifth goal.

Trailing 38-36 with 15 minutes to play, knock-ons and loose carries continued to frustrate Fylde, Hadfield's 50-yard break resulting in nothing more than a turnover.

Ionians sensibly kept the ball tight to run down the clock, rubbing salt into Fylde wounds when their big second row Alex Campbell was driven over. Minikin's goal took his match tally to 20 points.

Ionians fully deserved their win and were delighted to have beaten a team above them in the table for the first time this season.

Ionians fully deserved their win and were delighted to have beaten a team above them in the table for the first time this season.

Fylde had some wonderful moments, scoring some fine tries. Often this has been enough to see them come out on the right side of the ledger, especially when the defence is solid enough to cope with the opposition in between the moments of magic.

However, that approach cannot always be relied on, certainly against the better teams, and it proved so in this case.

Perhaps a week off and three high-scoring games prior to that meant that the toughness in defence had dropped off, and an Ionians team ably coached by ex-GB rugby league star Graham Steadman were able to exploit the error count and defensive frailties.

One thing is certain, if you concede 45 points you will have to create a lot of magic moments to outscore the opposition, and that task was beyond Fylde on this occasion.

They remain a joy to watch but this was one of those occasional frustrating days you must accept as a supporter of a team that plays this brand of rugby.

Coach Alex Loney was disappointed with the outcome, reflecting that in building a culture of empowering the players to know when to offload and when to be patient, the lessons learned can sometimes be painful ones.

This sixth defeat of the season sees Fylde drop a place to fifth, overtaken by Stourbridge who will host them in a fortnight. But first Fylde will be back at the Woodlands, looking to avenge November's one-point defeat at Luctonians.

The day's other National Two North match on Humberside was the top-of-the-table clash which saw leaders Hull defeat Sedgley Park 24-19 to move nine points clear of them.

The result also enabled Rotherham Titans to climb into second spot, six points behind Hull with six to play.

Fylde: Carleton, Hadfield, Forster, Rawlings (Clayton), Grimes, Smith, Sturgess, Kyle-Clay (Barrow), Gregory (Captain), Ashcroft (Bowker), Parkinson, Garrod, O’Ryan, Partington, Fairbrother; Not used: Lanigan, Parker.

Thanks for reading. If you value what we do and are able to support us, a digital subscription is just £1 for your first month. Try us today by clicking here