Lymm 28 Fylde RFC 50: Fylde in seventh heaven with away win

In a fast, open, exciting game, they traded blows with the hosts for 50 minutes before scoring 33 unanswered points in the last 28 minutes.

Seven tries to four also gave them a bonus point victory, with Lymm deserving a bonus point for their willingness to throw the ball around and contribute to a fine spectacle.

Fylde started with a bang as Greg Smith danced through some heavy traffic near the Lymm line in the second minute and converted for a 7-0 lead.

Back came Lymm when Cal Morris took a quick tap and go penalty, catching Fylde flat-footed, while Tom Shard goaled the try to level the scores.

A Smith penalty nudged Fylde 10-7 in front before the first of several fine scores followed as a scrum in their own 22 saw Fylde break with Ben Gould dummying a bigger defender to score a converted try.

Trailing 17-7, Lymm struggled to live with Fylde when the phases racked up but were let off the hook when errors crept in.

They forged upfield and a Fylde kick out of defence gave Lymm the chance to return with interest.

Something went awry in the Fylde defensive structure as a huge gap opened up, allowing Harry Martin to run through from 30 metres out with Shard’s conversion making it 17-14 at half-time.

Fylde won’t remember the first 10 minutes of the second half fondly as a promising move on halfway turned into an interception try for Lymm’s Nathan Beesley, followed by Matty Hand’s close-range try.

Shard converted both and a 17-7 lead for Fylde had turned into an 11-point deficit at 28-17 in the space of nine minutes.

Fylde turned to their bench and brought on Scott Rawlings and Tom Burrow, a move that was to pay instant dividends.

On 51 minutes, Smith kicked a penalty to touch 20 yards out before Matt Garrod’s take set up the catch and drive.

Lymm were unable to stop it with Rawlings touching down and, though Smith missed the conversion, Fylde were back in it at 28-22.

Fylde then upped the tempo and led on the hour with a penalty try when Gould was held up over the line after being tackled by a defender coming back from an offside position.

A yellow card was also shown with Fylde now back ahead by a point.

Five minutes later, Gould sneaked over for a second try and Smith’s conversion from wide out saw Fylde 36-28 in front.

Fylde didn’t relent and scored again on 72 minutes when they went through 15 phases before Sam Stott crossed with Smith converting.

With a half-century of points in sight, Fylde then scored the try of the day as Ben Gregory collected Smith’s crossfield kick before putting Ben Turner clear 60 yards out.

He raced through before making the last man miss to touch down, with Smith converting to complete the scoring.

Lymm: Beesley, Jennings, Pilkington, Kimber, Williams, Shard, Morris, Woods, Pitcher, Hand, Thompson, Yates, Makin, Martin, Higginson. Replacements: Higgins, Ashton, Stride, Caldwell, Rowley.

Fylde RFC: Dorrington, Turner, Forster, Stott, Lanigan, Smith, Gould, Bowker, Gregory, Raymont, Garrod, Parkinson, Ashcroft, Harrison, Bentley. Replacements: Rawlings, Brooks, Altham, Parker, Burrow.