Fylde 27 DMP 34

12:39pm Wednesday 30th January 2008

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This National Three (North) game was an entertaining enough spectacle for the neutral but for the home supporters, and even more for the coaches, it was another worrying example of Fylde's generosity to their opponents in 2008, in this case Darlington Mowden Park.

A six game unbeaten run culminating in the win against Preston Grasshoppers on 22nd December is fast being forgotten in the wake of three successive defeats, two of them at the Woodlands.

Fylde's exciting late grandstand finish didn't disguise a very disappointing demonstration of weak defence and lamentable ball retention.

That the Woodlands pitch was in such good condition for what turned out to be a demonstration of running rugby by, particularly, DMP, was pretty amazing given the sodden surface only five days earlier.

Eight tries, all scored by the backs, a number from long distance, was testimony to its powers of recovery.

DMP came to play rugby right from the off and their spirit of adventure was to lead to just deserts.

But Fylde dominated possession in the early stages of the game and pressed hard inside the DMP half.

A lightening break down the right from home debutant scrum-half Craig Aikman faltered as, unluckily, his inside pass to winger Nick Royle was smothered by a DMP defender.

From another break he looked like he was going all the way until cut down 5m from the try line.

On each occasion the visitors scrambled the ball clear.

On 15 minutes a Fylde forward was penalised 30m out from the home line and Charlie Raynor, who was to prove the orchestrator of many of DMP's attacks, kicked a good goal.

Fylde were soon back inside DMP's half but were unable to find a way through.

By this time they were squandering much of their hard earned possession by losing the ball in contact or being turned over by an aggressive DMP backrow led by arch predatory flanker Aaron Myers.

From one such breakdown on the half-hour, DMP attacked breezily down their left 40 metres out and caught the home defence napping as left winger James Clark raced through without a hand being laid on him.

Raynor's attempted conversion was wide but his side had established an 8-0 lead.

Fylde responded in the best possible way.

It was their turn to attack down their left and centre Richard Kenyon threw a long pass to winger Oliver Brennand just inside DMP's half.

N3N's top try scorer was faced with four or five defenders but, in typical fashion, cut outside two along the touchline and then veered back inside the others as he sprinted clear to go under the posts for a quite splendid try.

This was Brennand at his most opportunistic - there are few more dangerous runners from broken play in the national leagues.

John Armstrong converted and Fylde were a point behind at 7-8.

What followed was a dismal eight minutes for the home side which, in effect, decided the outcome of the game.

On 36 minutes and 40 metres out from the Fylde line, DMP's winger Tom Wilkinson cut back inside.

Nick Royle followed him and made a crunching tackle midfield.

As always, the DMP backrow was quick to the breakdown and scrum-half Chris Clark whipped the ball out left.

A pass or two later it reached his twin brother James who strolled through an under populated Fylde defence for his second try of the game.

Raynor converted and DMP led by 15-7.

Wilkinson injured his leg as a result of Royle's tackle and was replaced by Ben Snook.

DMP attacked this time down their right and the highly influential Raynor twisted through a half hearted Fylde tackle and cleverly passed to the supporting fullback Iain Dixon who raced over in the corner and went behind the posts for an excellent try.

Raynor converted and his side had manufactured a 22-10 half-time lead even though Fylde had had more than their share of possession.

This was a difficult debut for Fylde's new fly half Neil Hunter who hasn't played much rugby generally in recent weeks, let alone in the crucial 10 position.

It was a measured gamble by coach Mark Nelson to throw him in after only one training session and he looked a bit rusty.

There's no doubting his talent, however, and once he's adjusted to the team's tactics and the particular, usually windy, conditions at the Woodlands then he'll make a significant impact.

An interesting Fylde substitution at the break saw Greg Johnson, back after a couple of month's injury absence, taking over from Dylan O'Grady.

Skipper Banks moved to no 8 to allow Johnson to take up his usual lock's role.

On 48 minutes DMP lock Luke Monument killed the ball once too often for referee Guy Steel -Bodger's liking and he was yellow carded.

John Armstrong reduced the deficit with the subsequent penalty kick.

However, despite DMP having a man short they perpetrated a killer blow a couple of minutes later.

Chris Clark was only playing scrum-half because Mowden's two main 9s are injured.

But it hardly looked like that from the sidelines as he stood reasonable comparison to Fylde's impressive Craig Aikman.

On 53 minutes, indeed, he got on the end of some slick DMP inter passing and shot through the Fylde defence for a good try.

Raynor's attempted conversion was wide but his side led by 27-13.

This try prompted the Fylde coaches to throw on 17 year old Sale Jets newcomer and centre Alex Hurst in place of David Wiseman.

In the next Fylde attack 35 metres out from the DMP line centre Richard Kenyon spilled a pass that was around his ankles.

Hurst, anxious to make an impression picked up the loose ball and fired it out wide.

DMP fullback Iain Dixon anticipated it and made a 60m break to score under the posts.

Raynor converted and the lead was now 34-13.

It was unforgivable for Fylde to have conceded two tries to a side still down to 14 players.

Monument returned but Fylde didn't give up and were soon back in the DMP half.

On 62 minutes fly-half Hunter broke from a scrum and gave a nice inside pass to winger Brennand who had come infield looking for action.

Brennand cut a nice angle and powered over for a well worked try.

Armstrong converted and reduced the deficit to 20-34.

There could be no way back for the home side, could there?

Fylde kept up the pressure and on 76 minutes another backs move saw Hurst set up Nick Royle 30 metres out with a well timed pass.

Royle had much to do and in typical fashion went round a defender before driving though another two and scoring beautifully in the right corner.

Armstrong's kick from the touchline was superb and, suddenly, Fylde were one converted try away from levelling the game at 27-34.

A minute later Royle burst through the centre and looked certain to score again.

Somehow the DMP defenders managed a pincer movement and caught him 5m short.

Apparently, he was suffering cramp at the time and this led to him fatally slowing as the cover reached him.

Ordinarily, he would have scored under the posts and Fylde would have almost certainly tied the game, unjustified as this would have been.

From the subsequent scrummage DMP's replacement backrower Tony Begovich was yellow carded for interference and his side were down a man once again.

But there wasn't enough time for Fylde to take advantage and a rather breathless 2nd half ended with suitable jubilation from the visitors.

It has to be said that, despite Fylde's exciting late comeback, anything less than a Mowden Park victory would have been very hard on the visitors.

Fylde's poor ball retention all over the pitch, their slowness at getting to the tackle breakdown and their sloppy defending ultimately cost them the game.

In contrast, DMP adopted the right tactics, used their limited ball with more sharpness and intent and in centre Charlie Raynor had the man of the match.

The pluses for Fylde included another impressive display by scrum-half Aikman, solid lineout play and scrummages, and excellent performances from flanker Dan Bowman and lock Nick King.

Greg Johnson also looked very solid when he came into the fray in a much better 2nd half for the home side.

If we had seen the ability of wingers Brennand and Royle to shred opposition defences then it was doubly disappointing to reflect on the defensive inadequacies which ultimately characterised the performance.