Match report: Tynedale 57 Fylde RFC 15

Fylde started the game in fine fashion with an excellent trademark Tom Carleton try in the first minute.

The full-back caught the opening kick-off and ran it back

through a startled Tyne defence for a superb try.

Greg Smith converted and the Lancastrians had a 0-7 lead.

Tynedale hit back in the ninth minute, when hooker David Batey drove over from a powerful maul for a try converted by fly-half Jake Rogers.

Smith kicked Fylde into a 7-10 lead with a penalty in the 13th minute.

Tyne replied with some sustained pressure in the Fylde half and in the 20th minute centre Will Miller scored.

Rogers converted for 14-10, a lead that his side never relinquished.

Fylde flanker Ben Vernon picked up a nasty head injury as a result of this move and was taken to hospital, replaced in the back row by Sam Dugdale. Fortunately Vernon was discharged later in the evening.

It was in the last 10 minutes of the first half that Tynedale ran away from their visitors with three tries without response.

First Jake Rogers stepped his way past some indifferent tackling to score under the posts and he converted his own try.

This was followed in close order by tries from the ever-dangerous winger Moran Passman, dual-registered with Newcastle Falcons, and then by centre Jonathan Burden.

Rogers converted two of the tries to give his side a 33-10 lead at the interval.

Fylde’s defence this season has been generally fierce and effective. This wasn’t the case in this game, and it was more of the same early in the second half, with Passman notching his second unconverted try.

Fylde responded quickly, when a neat movement ended with hooker Ben Gregory scoring in the corner.

Smith was unable to add the extras but the deficit had been reduced to 38-15.

In the 62nd minute, the productive Rogers was seriously injured and the game was held up for a long period while he was attended to before being stretchered off and joining Vernon in hospital.

On the resumption, things got no easier for Fylde as Tyne scored three more tries.

Winger Guy Pike was on the end of a pass in the 68th minute to score a touch down.

Fylde’s cause wasn’t helped when Henry Hadfield was sinbinned for a high tackle against one of his old club’s players.

The 14 men ended the game badly by conceding another two tries by Pike, who completed his hat-trick inside 10 minutes.

Fylde Head Coach Warren Spragg said: “We need to be better than that if we want to compete at the top end of this league.

“We were poor defensively and didn’t have the spark in attack that I expect from this group of players.

“We picked up a number of injuries too, so we will have to assess the squad, but whoever plays next week against Peterborough Lions has a big responsibility to put things right and get us back to winning ways.”

Fylde drop one place to sixth in National Two North.

Fylde: Carleton, Hadfield, Briers, Wilkinson, Grimes; Smith, Lanigan; Joyner, 2 Gregory (Ashman 46), Ford (Horner 32), Ashcroft, 5 Parkinson (Garrod 52), Corrie, Vernon (Dugdale 21), Fairbrother (Gregory); not used: Fowden