LASTTIMEOUT: LEEDS 35 V FYLDE 15
MATCH REPORT BY SIMON TAYLOR
Forget the final scoreline. Look past the fact Fylde came back from Yorkshire with nothing to show for their effort and endeavour. Instead, focus on what was a Herculean effort, in the face of some real adversity, with a raft of players injured or unavailable, and players forced to play out of position. A spirited, committed and inventive display saw Fylde go toe to toe with champions elect Leeds, with Leeds having to work very hard to quell the Fylde challenge, only making the game safe in the last 20 minutes, when the heavens opened, and the rain made attacking play difficult for both teams. Fylde coaches Alex Loney and Chris Briers were presented with major headaches in terms of selecting a pack to take on the physicality of the Leeds forwards. Unavailability as well as the attritional nature of the season in general and a tough win against Hull last time out meant there was no Rob Williamson, Tom Davis, Olli Trippier, Mike Walton, Matt Garrod, Matt Ashcroft or Sam Parker. Freddie Deeks came in to start at hooker in between Chris Rudkin and Pete Altham. Greg Morgan and Lewis Quinn were a brand-new second row partnership, and with skipper Toby Harrison out gnarly warrior Dave Fairbrother took over the captaincy again from number 8. With feast become famine in back row options prop Corey Bowker and centre Sam Stott were called upon to play very much out of position on the blind and open side. In the backs, in for injured Ben Gould was Alex Gaughan, only just back from injury himself. Will Hunt was in the box seat at 10, with Tom Forster and Alex Clayton in the centres, Adam Lanigan and Jordan Dorrington on the wings, and Freddie Reader at full back. Rob King and Cam Railton provided front row cover on the bench, Ben Turner and Cam Smith were back line replacement options and the biggest surprise of the day was a welcome return for a trimmed down version of Scott Rawlings on the bench. Welcome surprise for Fylde that is, maybe not so much for the Leeds hooker as Rawlings showed he has lost none of his razor-sharp wit at line out time. Rain had been forecast but held off for the first hour and Leeds started strongly, kicking an early penalty to 5 yards out. With hooker Adam Brown having amassed 21 tries already his season there are no prizes for guessing what is one of the main weapons in Leeds’s armoury. The catch and drive was set up and Brown looked like he was about to make it 22 when Fylde were adjudged to have dragged it down illegally. It was only the 3rd minute, but with the referee awarding a penalty try, he was duty bound to dish out a yellow card as well, and Fairbrother was the
recipient. Fylde were 7-0 down and without their skipper for the next 10 minutes. Rather than let this dishearten them Fylde rose to the challenge. A nice break from Reader led to Fylde’s first penalty and their own line out. Without their usual thrower in and missing their principal jumpers, Deeks did well to hit Morgan and Fylde set up the best phased play they have put together all season. Nine or ten phases with strong carries particularly from Sam Stott and Morgan stressed the Leeds defence into narrowing too much. Will Hunt spotted this and showed his prowess again in the flat kick out wide, finding winger Adam Lanigan in acres of space. Lanigan gathered, dotted down, Hunt converted, and Fylde were level at 7-7 after 7 minutes. Fylde continued to take the game to Leeds and, with Fairbrother back on, went ahead on 21 minutes. A huge hit in midfield by Pete Altham allowed Corey Bowker to turnover the ball with a great steal. Fairbrother and Morgan created holes in the Leeds defence, Hunt flung a lovely miss pass giving Jordan Dorrington space to break down the wing, and Freddie Reader was on hand to take the final pass, create some scorched earth around the last man and touch down. Hunt’s conversion drifted wide, but Fylde were 12-7 up. Leeds are not top of the tree for nothing, and they came back on 27 minutes. Any penalties allowing line outs near Fylde’s line were going to mean trouble and this one did give Brown his 22nd try of the season. Full back Seremaia Turagabeci, or Jerry Bai as Leeds call him, and I hope he doesn’t mind me doing so from now on, kicked the
24
Made with FlippingBook Online newsletter maker