Wharfedale 39 Fylde RFC 43: Six tries give Fylde victory

Saturday’s trip to Wharfedale saw the lead repeatedly change hands and the teams score 11 tries; six of them to Fylde.

They made the first error with an early knock-on, which Wharfedale recycled left quickly for Alfie Weston to cross with Archie Haddon’s conversion making it 7-0.

In response, David Fairbrother fielded a deep kick well before it was returned by Danny Cassidy and Ben Turner, finishing with Lewis Quinn muscling his way over.

The open nature of the game continued, some porous Fylde defending seeing Bradley Viner score for the home team on eight minutes.

Haddon converted and then knocked over a penalty five minutes later to leave Fylde 17-5 down.

Needing a reply, they got one as Cassidy and Adam Lanigan took them close to the line and Quinn crashed over again for a converted try, making it 17-12.

Having seen Wharfedale’s Jake Armstrong yellow-carded for a late hit, Fylde set up shop in the home 22 where Ben Walton scored and Cassidy converted.

Leading 19-17 on 29 minutes, Fylde fell behind five minutes later as they were caught offside and Haddon kicked another penalty.

A key moment came just on half-time as a neat Wharfedale chip and gather ended with the ball being spilled and Cassidy counter-attacking.

He was unable to collect his own chip but Will Greenwood regathered the ball and fed James Sutcliff for another converted try and a 26-20 score in Fylde’s favour.

With the slight slope advantage in the second half, Fylde saw Wharfedale force a penalty near their line before a scrummage ended with Sam Dickinson crossing to make it 26-25.

However, straight from the kick-off, Fylde’s Corey Bowker set off on a run which led to a penalty being kicked to touch.

The resulting lineout saw Sam Stott put Wharfedale on the back foot before the ball was spun wide and Will Hunt dived over, Cassidy’s conversion putting Fylde 33-25 ahead.

They were then forced into a long spell of defence, which eventually told on 63 minutes as Fairbrother was yellow-carded after a catch-and-drive was pulled down near the Fylde line.

Wharfedale chose a scrum with Viner strolling under the posts for a converted try, narrowing Fylde’s lead to 33-32.

Cassidy’s penalty gave them a four-point lead with 13 minutes left but a midfield error and a scrum penalty enabled the hosts to set up a lineout.

Dickinson barged over for his second try with Haddon’s conversion putting Wharfedale 39-36 in front with five minutes left.

Hunting a decisive try, Fylde saw Lanigan called back for a forward pass before another kick was collected by Clayton.

He created space for Turner to progress down the wing before the supporting Kyle Macaulay and Gabe Maguire found Clayton, who just got over the line.

Cassidy converted via the post as Fylde eventually secured victory.

Wharfedale: Haddon, Cherry, Viner, Bullough, Weston, M Bell (W Bell 80), Riddiough (Kaup-Samuels 65), Fawcett, Wills, Tweedale (Ward 65), Hedgley, Borrill, Armstrong, Stockdale, Dickinson (Meehan 80).

Fylde RFC: Clayton, Lanigan, Cassidy, Stott (Macaulay 66), Turner, Hunt, Maguire, Fairbrother, Harrison, Quinn (Ashcroft 49), Greenwood, Walton (Morgan 71), Bowker, Sutcliff (Railton 49), Trippier (King 40).