Youngsters in control as Spragg stays calm

Leicester Lions 31pts Fylde ...................... 41pts

FYLDE notched their first away win since March but didn’t have it all their own way in a high-scoring affair.

Despite being in front for the entire match, Fylde just couldn’t put a resilient Lions side out of sight, with 11 tries being shared between the two teams on a thrilling afternoon.

Prop Adam Lewis and full-back Thomas Carleton both crossed for Fylde within five minutes of the kick-off as the autumnal nip in the air was soon forgotten.

Lions responded in kind with two first-half tries of their own, both from the hands of Ethan Godefroy, as they reduced the arrears to five points.

But Fylde had their young pack to thank for reasserting their dominance, especially hooker Ben Gregory, who scored his first tries of the season.

Fylde head coach Warren Spragg was pleased with his young side’s application, especially after fielding the youngest front row in the club’s history.

“Our set-piece was really good,” he said. “We lost our captain, so Matt Ashcroft came on to play 70 minutes for his debut, which meant we had a front row with a combined age of 60.

“But our scrum was really good again, so I’m really happy with how the lads went into set-pieces.

“Ben Gregory was great again and on lineouts he was spot-on.

“He’s not renowned as being a try-scoring hooker but he is a talented player. He’s got a great work ethic and he’s a real good teammate.

“There’s a lot to like about Ben.

“His first try was a lovely finish, a bit of a pirouette to get over the line, and the second one was a bit more traditional.

“We’re just glad he didn’t get a hat-trick because we wouldn’t have heard the end of it!”

Despite Godefroy completing his hat-trick within three minutes of the restart, Fylde went up a gear in attack and their pressure led to two further scores. Henry Hadfield and replacement Thomas Burtonwood were the men to go over.

Though they had a 41-17 lead, two Fylde sin-binnings allowed Lions back in the game and Harry Key and Simon Johnson crossed in quick succession to add unnecessary nerves for Fylde’s head coach.

“We’re getting used to this league without really knowing what to expect,” he added.

“The Leicester lads came out with 20 minutes where we probably thought we were getting things our own way.

“They really started the second half with a lot of intensity and made it a really close game.

“It’s been a while since we won an away game. Old Albanians was the last time we won. The lads were really pleased in the changing rooms afterwards.

“I was pretty calm for most of it [but] the last 15-20 minutes when we were a bit reckless in terms of the penalty count and our illdiscipline I was getting a little bit nervy.

“But we played pretty well for a lot of that game.”