Fylde 34 Leicester Lions 34

10:21am Tuesday 19th February 2008

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As Leicester Lions' Jon Boden stroked over a penalty kick in front of the Fylde posts five minutes into injury time to level the scores at 34-all it was almost possible to hear the gasps of relief coming from the Lions' coaches, officials and handful of loyal supporters who had made the trip north.

Make no mistake, this was a let-off for the Midlands promotion contenders who were always behind until this fateful final minute.

Good team that they are, there were spells during this game when they were outplayed by a hard working Fylde side who will believe that they deserved to win this excellent advertisement for level four rugby.

Indeed, this was perhaps the best game that has seen at the Woodlands for a few seasons.

The spectacle was helped by a sunny, warm day and a perfect pitch for a feast of running rugby.

A good crowd of almost 600 thoroughly appreciated the fare on offer.

The big and powerful Fylde pack, featuring an impressive return to national league action for veteran prop Matt Filipo following an absence of two years, was in outstanding form and dominated the opposition from the off.

The Lions soon realised that they had to play a fast and loose game, getting the ball out and away from the tight exchanges and they did this very successfully.

But their cause wasn't helped by skipper Junior Fagalilo badly injuring his knee in the pre-match warm up.

Replacement Jonathan Russell was drafted into the starting line-up at no 8.

Fylde had a perfect start.

After only two minutes the ball was moved along the backline to centre Richard Kenyon who chipped cleverly over the Lions' backs into the corner.

Winger Nick Royle rarely looks such a gift horse in the mouth and raced onto the loose ball, picked up neatly and dived over in the corner for a well worked try.

John Armstrong's attempted conversion drifted wide but Fylde had a 5-0 lead.

There was no release in the pressure on the Lions as Fylde maintained the frantic early pace.

On nine minutes the Fylde forwards secured good ball and fly-half Neil Hunter shipped the ball left and it reached Oliver Brennand 40 metres out on the left.

The winger skipped past the first defender in his usual touchline hugging style, changed gear and outpaced the other defenders to score an excellent try.

Once again, Armstrong's conversion attempt missed the target but the home side had a deserved 10-0 lead.

The Lions had to break up this pattern and they did this by moving the ball through their backs at any and every opportunity.

On 16 minutes they attacked down their right.

The ball reached Gareth Roberts who had come off his left wing and was 30 metres out.

He ran at Oliver Brennand who drove him backwards towards the touchline.

Just when it looked as though Brennand had bundled Roberts into touch, the tricky little winger slipped out of his grasp and burst the final 20 metres for the try.

Boden converted easily, reducing the deficit for his side to 7-10.

Fylde stepped up the pressure, especially through the tight exchanges.

On 21 minutes Hunter kicked a penalty to touch 10 metres out from the Lions' line.

The subsequent lineout was won and the Fylde pack drove for the line.

As they rumbled over, scrum-half Craig Aikman smuggled the ball and dropped down for the try. Armstrong's attempted conversion hit the post and fell the wrong way but Fylde led by 15-7.

On 30 minutes, this time on the Fylde left, they repeated the treatment with another driving maul.

This time hooker Alan Holmes was last up to claim the try.

John Armstrong converted this bonus point winning 4th try and Fylde had a deserved and dominating 22-7 lead.

With the clock running down to the half-time break, what followed was a crazy period for the home side which changed the fate of the game.

On 40 minutes the Lions attacked through the left centre field and the ball was worked out to winger Roberts.

He skipped through a couple of tackles and scored his second try of the game with a punishing burst to the line.

Boden converted and the Lions were now only 14-22 down.

Instead of steadying the game and playing percentage rugby, Fylde regained possession and attacked down their right.

Fly-half Hunter threw a long looped pass to winger Royle. But the very smart Lions fullback Gareth Collins read the play, intercepted the pass before it reached the Fylde player and he raced 50 metres for a very soft try.

Boden converted and, amazingly, the Lions were now only a point adrift at 21-22 down.

The half-time whistle blew and the Lions must have believed that they had won the lottery.

From a position of complete Fylde dominance, five minutes of slack play had let the Lions back in the game.

Whatever was said in the home dressing room paid immediate dividends as Fylde opened the second period in much the same way as they started the first.

On 42 minutes they attacked down their right once more.

This time the ball did reach Royle and the blond winger set off on a trademark run 40 metres out.

He broke past two players and powered through another, almost being brought down in the process.

He briefly staggered but regained his balance to race over into the corner for a quite brilliant piece of individualism.

Armstrong conversion drifted wide but Fylde had a rather more convincing 27-21 lead.

Five minutes later, there was a Fylde scrummage 30 metres out from the Lions' try line.

Scrum-half Aikman burst away and picked a wonderful line to sprint through the heart of the Lions defence without a hand laid on him for an excellent try under the posts.

Armstrong converted and Fylde had extended their lead to 34-21 with more than 30 minutes still to play.

But this switchback contest had plenty more drama to unfold as the Lions came back yet again just four minutes later.

Leicester moved the ball down their left and their very talented Kiwi outside centre Scott Alfred orchestrated another clever backs move.

This time it was their top try scorer, fullback Gareth Collins, who darted through the Fylde defence to touch down.

This was Collins' second try of the game and his 13th of the season, four behind the leading N3N try scorer, Fylde's Oli Brennand.

Boden converted and his side was now only 28-34 in arrears.

Given the glut of scoring in the first 51 minutes, the game now changed character as both teams dug in trying to find the killer blow.

A straightforward Boden penalty kick brought the Lions to within three points of Fylde.

But the home side continued their physical dominance up front and as we entered the final five minutes of normal time they camped inside the Leicester 22 metre line.

Time and again the Fylde pack drove for the line, recycling in a controlled fashion and they thought they were rewarded as lock Nick King claimed a touch down.

On each occasion somehow the Lions pack held them up before a Fylde player offended and Boden cleared downfield.

As referee David Sainsbury let the game go into several minutes of injury time, the Lions battled into the Fylde half and up to their 22 metre line.

A Fylde defender strayed offside and to the big crowd's horror the referee awarded the penalty in front of the posts.

Boden's nerve held and he converted easily.

The referee blew the final whistle almost immediately.

While the final result was a big disappointment to the home side and its followers, the neutral spectator would have had a very entertaining afternoon.

Here was two talented teams playing somewhat contrasting styles who had served up a fine match.

The scrummages were even and the lineouts shaded by the home side with Greg Johnson and Roger Banks jumping well.

Indeed, the physical prowess of their excellent pack always gave Fylde the edge but the Lions played a shrewd and loose running game, using their mobile and speedy forwards led by hooker John Williamson and openside flanker Marc Howgate, always supporting the man with the ball and with sharp handling.

But Fylde's game wasn't static and laboured in comparison. With the best two wingers in N3N, Brennand and Royle, as evidenced by the division's try scoring statistics, Fylde will always be dangerous when they move the ball wide.

Six tries to four tells an interesting story, with five of Fylde's notched by their backs. Fylde slip two places to 7th in the crowded N3N mid-table.

As with eight other clubs, Fylde could finish the season in 3rd place or be relegated in 12th!

This is the most even league for many seasons.

Scoring sequence: 2 Royle (t) 5-0 9 Brennand (t) 10-0 16 Roberts (t) 10-5 Boden (c) 10-7 21 Aikman (t) 15-7 30 Holmes (t) 20-7 Armstrong (c) 22-7 40 Roberts (t) 22-12 Boden (c) 22-14 40+3 Collins (t) 22-19 Boden (c) 22-21 Half-time 22-21 42 Royle (t) 27-21 47 Aikman (t) 32-21 Armstrong (c) 34-21 51 Collins (t) 34-26 Boden (c) 34-28 66 Boden (p) 34-31 80+5 Boden (p) 34-34 Fylde: 15 John Armstrong; 14 Nick Royle, 13 Richard Kenyon, 12 David Wiseman, 11 Oliver Brennand; 10 Neil Hunter, 9 Craig Aikman; 1 Matt Filipo (Adam Lewis 47), 2 Alan Holmes (Chris Tyms 68), 3 Darren Clark, 4 Nick King, 5 Greg Johnson, 6 Sam Beaumont, 7 Dave Wilks, 8 Roger Banks (Dan Bowman 62). Non-playing replacement: Martin Wallwork.

Leicester Lions: 15 Gareth Collins; 14 Anthony Lintern, 13 Scott Alfed, 12 Adam Pegg, 11 Gareth Roberts (Dale Ager 81); 10 Jon Boden, 9 Chris Townsend (Alan Mitchell 73); 1 Stewart Pearman, 2 John Williamson, 3 Shaun Murray, 4 David Bennett, 5 Chris Jones, 6 Kurtis Rudkin, 7 Marc Howgate, 8 Jonathan Russell.