Preston Grasshoppers 12 Fylde RFC 38: Completing a derby double this season

Although the strong winds forecast duly turned up, the expected rain only arrived in short spells and, given the conditions, both teams put on a very entertaining spectacle.

The first 15 minutes were tight, with no quarter asked or given, as each team sought to get the early upper hand.

It took until the 16th minute for the scoreboard to start ticking, Hoppers creating space on the right edge for Jacob Browne to cross from 40 yards with Greg Smith converting.

Fylde replied four minutes later as they built the phases around the Hoppers’ 22, allowing Corey Bowker time to split the defence and race under the posts with Patrick Bishop’s conversion making it 7-7.

After seeing Smith miss a penalty for Hoppers, Fylde put together a great 10 minutes leading up to the break.

Mike Walton burst through before offloading to Matt Garrod, who reached out and dotted down despite being tackled just short as Bishop converted again.

Fylde struck again just before half-time, starting when Ben Turner returned a kick with interest before space was created for Freddie Reader.

He fed Garrod, who returned the favour Walton had earlier provided by giving him the scoring pass for a try and a 19-7 half-time lead.

Having been guilty of slow starts to the second halves of some matches this season, Fylde were in no mood to let Hoppers back into the game.

Their error count was low, as was their penalty count, the defence was solid and their decision making was sensible.

That, combined with their game management, meant Hoppers struggled to worry them too much or get any patterns going.

Fylde again worked their way into the Hoppers’ 22 on 50 minutes, which ended in Lewis Quinn barging over and Bishop converting for a 26-7 lead.

The game was effectively ended as a contest on the hour, when Fylde kicked from defence and chased well to put pressure on Hoppers’ Rory Brand, who was subsequently yellow-carded.

Bishop kicked for touch before a catch and drive saw the ball moved wide, where Hoppers offended again at the breakdown and Walton took a quick tap penalty to score his second try.

Despite being down a man and trailing 31-7, Hoppers never let their heads drop and forced a few penalties of their own to set up shop on the Fylde line.

Scott Richardson muscled his way over for a try on 64 minutes but any hopes of a late fightback were quelled three minutes later.

Hoppers kicked deep, only for Reader to make a 40-yard return and, from the next phase, Dave Fairbrother produced a deft offload for Ben Gould to have a clear run in from 20 yards.

Bishop added his fourth conversion to complete the scoring, though there was still time for Max Loboda to collect Hoppers’ second yellow card of the afternoon.

Preston Grasshoppers: Browne, May, Keohane, Russell (O’Donnell), Spence, Smith, O’Donnell (Brand), Richardson (Norrington 40), Longson, Willetts (Naylor), Murray (Richardson), Causey (Loboda), Hill (Williams), Holden, Parkinson (Hill).

Fylde RFC: Reader, J Dorrington, Clayton (Forster), Stott, Turner, Bishop, Gould, Fairbrother (Morgan), Harrison, Quinn (Parker), Walton, Garrod, Altham (Trippier), Davis, Bowker (Rudkin). Not used: King.