Tynedale 23 Fylde RFC 12: Key defeat in title chase?

Tynedale’s simple but effective tactics frustrated a Fylde team that, despite unavailability and injuries, still had the personnel and skills to win the game.

With Sedgley Park winning their 18th straight match, Fylde are six points behind the leaders, who have a game in hand.

They were boosted by Dave Fairbrother’s red card having been downgraded to a yellow, while Tom Carleton played his seventh game of the season.

Fylde started in the worst possible fashion as they received the kick-off but failed to exit effectively.

They knocked on and turned over the ball and, six phases later, Tynedale winger Alex Dryden crossed in the corner for a 5-0 lead.

Fylde had a chance to respond when Tynedale’s box-kick exit was a bit too long, enabling Fairbrother to gather and feed Carleton.

He scythed through the middle, but didn’t have support, and the move broke down five yards out.

A failure to convert good scoring opportunities became a theme that Fylde would come to regret.

They did, however, manage to restore parity at 5-5 in the 19th minute when Conor Wilkinson forced his way over after some patient build-up play.

Tynedale edged ahead again five minutes later, forcing a turnover penalty as Fylde struggled to exit their own half.

Too much chatter meant play was marched back a further 10 yards with Rob Parker converting to make it 8-5.

Then, on 35 minutes, Fylde had a disastrous 90 seconds of play as good pressure on the Tynedale line was undone as the hosts counter-rucked them off the ball and kicked to touch.

Fylde’s lineout was overthrown, they then lost their own scrum, conceded another penalty and Tynedale ended up with a scrum five yards out.

With the scrum inching forward and the Fylde back row tied in, Tynedale spun the ball left and Josh Leslie touched down, allowing them to lead 13-5 at the break.

Early in the second half, Fylde made a break out of nowhere but an excellent cover tackle forced Jordan Dorrington into touch just short of the line.

In the next few minutes, another misfired lineout was followed by a penalty and two hefty kicks which saw Fylde pinned deep in their own territory again.

The pressure finally told as Tynedale chose to spin the ball at the right time, Parker scoring and converting to make it 20-5.

Fylde finally managed to force some pressure, resulting in Wilkinson scoring his second try with Greg Smith’s conversion leaving them 20-12 behind.

They opted to tap and go, rather than kick, another penalty but were penalised for holding on as Tynedale cleared once more.

Looking to force the tempo once again, errors, wrong options or good cover defence meant Fylde’s remaining chances came to nothing.

In looking to run from deep, they claimed for a high tackle too vociferously with Parker kicking the penalty to complete the scoring.

Tynedale: Parker, Dryden, Lilley, Todhunter (Miller), Devereux, Leslie, Telford, White (Carmichael), Frankland, Caudle (Haigh), Wearmouth, Nankivell, Blackburn (Hall), Johnston (Dodd), Bell.

Fylde: Carleton (Forster), Dorrington, Wilkinson, Rawlings (Turner), Grimes, Smith, Potts, Bowker (Higgins), Gregory, Ashcroft (Bell), Corrie, Harrison, Parker (Deeks), Higginson, Fairbrother.