Park pushed to the limit but see off Fylde in 11-try thriller
ROSSLYN Park ended a run of four straight losses at Fylde and forwards coach Kieran Power believes it was a crucial victory in their campaign.
This was a stereotypical match of two halves fought out between two wellmatched teams. Park started strongly and were 14 points ahead in the ninth minute.
Fylde came back with two tries but then proceeded to commit several errors which were exploited ruthlessly by Park, who built up a 20-point lead by half-time.
This looked an unassailable mountain for the home side to climb, but they came back with a much improved, spirited second-half display to get within four points at 38-34 in the 73rd minute.
Park’s discipline folded as Fylde threw themselves forward and they lost two players to the sin-bin in a frantic 20-minute period. But a last minute converted try steadied their nerves in an anti-climatic finish for Fylde.
Power said: “This was a very important win in a massive game for us. We know how hard it is to come here and perform – we've lost in the last four seasons on this ground.
“We started off very well, built up an excellent lead by half-time but fell away and made it hard for ourselves in the second half with poor discipline.
“Fair play to Fylde who played some fantastic rugby and made it a nailbiting finish.”
In the second minute lock Adam Frampton waltzed through some ineffective tackles to score and this was quickly followed by full-back Harry Robinson sniping over for the second and a 14-0 lead.
Fylde came back strongly with a close-range Paul Arnold try followed up by a lovely break by Scott Armstrong which Connor Wilkinson finished off to reduce the deficit to 17-12.
Park fly-half Harry Leonard had a fine kicking day, contributing 20 points, and controlled his backs well.
Winger Dominic Morris feasted off Fylde errors and scored two tries running up to the interval and gave Park a 32-12 lead.
Fylde began the second half with much more intensity and accuracy.
Flanker Jack Turley drove over and this was followed up in short order by a fine second try for 19-year-old centre Wilkinson. As Park’s indiscipline increased and two forwards were sin-binned, so Fylde stepped up the pressure with another close-quarter try, this time by hooker Tom Burtonwood, followed up by Evan Stewart twisting over for his side’s sixth try.
Fylde had their opponents under serious pressure but a couple more mistakes allowed prop replacement Ziana Montout-Alexis to notch the crucial try in the last minute to secure the win.
Fylde head coach Arnold said: “We started slowly and conceded two soft tries. We got back into the game but then made far too many mistakes.
“We put in an excellent second-half fightback and I was disappointed about not earning a second bonus point, even winning the game.
“These are games of fine margins. We scored six tries and have a number of players to come back into the squad.”