Fylde Senior Colts 38 Rossendale Academy 12

Fylde entertained a strong Rossendale Colts side for their first floodlit match of the season.  With a strong squad available, selection became a bit of a nightmare as we had so much strength in depth.  However, a starting side was selected and the squad knew as a whole that it was going go take a titanic performance to get a convincing win.  Fylde started the game and straight away applied pressure on the Rossendale forwards.  Excellent work from Joe McKillion and Alistair Pollock enabled turnover ball in the centre of the park.  Quick thinking from scrum half Jack Todd fed our backs who showed immense pace in attack.  Lots of dummy movements created a gap for centre Sammy Russell who danced his way over from 30 meters out.  Sammy also slotted his own conversion to give Fylde an excellent start to the game.

Rossendale regrouped under the posts and strong words from their coaches seemed to wake them up.  They slowly started to get into the game and showed their potential, especially with the pace of their back 3.  The more Rossendale attacked however, the stronger and more impressive the Fylde’s defense looked.  Excellent leadership qualities from John Wells kept the home team on their toes and exerted some excellent pressure.  In the lineout, Fylde showed total domination of their own ball and the majority of the Rossendale throw.  Excellent throwing from hooker Olly Trippier and counter calling from John Wells enabled a fine display of line out work from start to finish.

Rossendale scored a deserved try midway through the first half through their winger, resulting from a Fylde error.  With the conversion missed, Fylde still maintained a 7-5 lead.  Fylde regrouped and attacked immediately deep into the Rossendale half.  Good work from Tom McGuinnes and James Everett enabled Fylde a central position again.  Fly half George Davis who bossed the game well attacked the outside shoulder of the defending back line, drew two players and fed Sammy Russell who again showed good pace attacking the opposition 22 meter line.  He then fed the surprise support player of prop James Everett who outpaced the covering back line to score a well-deserved try.  Conversion being missed to give Fylde a 12-5 lead.  However, Rossendale finished the half the stronger of the two teams and scored an excellent try under the posts, with the conversion going over, it seemed Rossendale had the upper hand at a half time score of 12-12.

The half time talk ensured that we had to stop giving away stupid penalties in the ruck area and make sure the counter ruck happens at the right time.  We also knew that Rossendale were starting to blow a little, especially in the forwards.  The home team took this on and managed to score 26 unanswered points in the 2nd half.  After a blip of 5 minutes where Fylde showed great character defending their own line, Rossendale knew that their chance was over and Fylde stepped up a gear and put the visitors under constant pressure.  The first try came from Number 8 Gaz Collier after second Row Tom Cookson spoilt the lineout.  The ball found its way to Collier who showed great pace to score under the post from 40 meters out.  Excellent defensive work in the back line from Josh Thurston and Alex Roper enabled Fylde to counter attack at every opportunity.

Fylde soon scored again from good work by James Wilson and Adam Hales who both made good yards into the Rossendale half, and finding centre Sammy Russell who scored his second converted try of the evening to make the score 26-12.  With 10 minutes remaining Fylde’s try of the evening came from good work by both forwards and backs.  Olly Trippier showing his class with an excellent run backed up by Alistair Pollock and Ross Andrews enabled Russell to offload a perfectly line splitting pass to fly half George Davis who sprinted from half way to cap a wonderful performance.  

Fylde’s final try of the season came from number 8 Gaz Collier who picked up at the base of the scrum and outmuscle his way over to cap a fine game as pack leader and give Fylde a 38-12 victory.

Head Coach Paul Moran stated after the game “The guys showed great passion and character tonight and proved how dangerous they can be when they perform to this standard.  It was a very good team performance and I’m pleased for the players as they maintained their unbeaten home record against probably their toughest opposition this year”.