Barking 20 Fylde 19

Fylde battled back from being down to Barking for most of the game and it looked as though Nick Royle's hat-trick try in the 71st minute had won the game. But in the last minute, yet another case of Fylde indiscipline which had dogged them through the whole game, once again gave Barking's kicker Craig Ratford the chance to go for glory. He kicked the penalty and his team celebrated the end of a series of ten successive defeats. This second loss on the trot for the Lancastrians against clubs struggling against relegation shows how competitive National One is this season. Apart from leaders Jersey, who continued their imperious progress towards promotion in April, just about any team can beat any other in the division.

Fylde were forced into a late change of personnel when Mike Waywell dropped out of the squad through injury. Oli Viney came in on the right wing and Nick Royle dropped back to fullback. Their day went awry early on Saturday when their Preston-London train had to re-routed painfully slowly via Birmingham following an incident on the main West Coast line. This led to the team's arrival at Goresbrook being delayed and the kick-off being put back 15 minutes.

The game started evenly but Fylde's propensity to give away penalties started to make life difficult as the first quarter progressed. Barking fly-half and goal kicker Ratford, on loan from London Scottish, took full advantage in the 9th & 18th minutes to give his side a 6-0 advantage. Things got worse for the visitors in the 19th minute when skipper Sam Beaumont was yellow carded and hooker Jonny Roddam suffered a very nasty accidental injury above his eye which ended his game and led to a late visit to the Blackpool & Fylde Hospital on his arrival back home. Luckily his sight hasn't been impaired.

But with Beaumont back on the pitch, Fylde struck back in the 32nd minute when fullback Nick Royle exchanged passes with winger Oli Brennand and the England 7s player scored a typical try in the corner. Richard Kenyon's attempted conversion fell short but Fylde were just a point behind at 5-6.

The visitors had an advantage in the scrummages, otherwise the forward battle was pretty even. Fylde's habit of giving away points just before the half-time interval was again evident when they conceded a needless penalty in the last minute of the half to allow Ratford to put Barking ahead 9-5 at the break.

In the 48th minute Royle struck again when he received the ball wide out and kicked over the Barking defensive line. He beat the cover to the loose ball, picked it up and scored near the posts. Kenyon added the extras and Fylde were ahead for the first time in the game.

Their advantage was short lived as a fluent Barking backs move ended with speedy winger Stephen Hihetah burst through the Fylde midfield and scored a fine try. This time Ratford's kick missed but his side was back in front at 14-12.

It was lock Gareth Rawlings who was the next Fylde player to upset referee Terry Hall and he was sent to the sinbin in the 57th minute. This once more put the visitors on the back foot but they hung in and didn't concede any more points whilst down to 14 men. But in the 69th minute Ratford kicked his fourth penalty to extend the lead to 17-12.

What looked as though it might be the crucial score came in the 71st minute when Royle capitalised on an error by a Barking player to score his hat-trick try. Kenyon added the extras and Fylde were in front at 19-17.

It only left the denouement of the foolishly conceded penalty in the 80th minute to allow Ratford to kick the winning score and break Fylde hearts.

Fylde Coach Mark Nelson said: We had enough possession and territory to have won the game. Our defence was good and we outscored Barking by three tries to one. But our discipline let us down badly and we paid dearly for it. We also lost too much possession through sloppy execution. However it was an improvement on our display the week before against Blaydon. It also emphasises how even this league is and how difficult every game will be until the end of the season.”

A losing bonus point was a slight consolation and kept the Club in 3rd spot in National One.