Arnie signs Fylde avoid a nervous wait
FYLDE bid farewell to Paul Arnold after seven years as a player and coach – and they did so with their place in National One secured thanks to this win over Loughborough Students.
Arnold and club stalwarts Simon Griffiths and Evan Stewart are all departing and despite a slow start, they did what they needed to guarantee survival for another season, ensuring that they cannot be caught by either Blaydon or Hull Ionians.
For Arnold it was a time to reflect, and there was a great deal of pride at all he had achieved with the club over seven seasons.
He said: “It’s been up and down. Obviously to leave it to the last home game to secure safety is not ideal.
“But I’m really proud of the lads. We went into the game knowing what we had to do and we secured the five points.
“There will probably be a few beers to celebrate, it’s been seven fantastic years here. The highlight for me was the promotion year.”
Going into the game Fylde knew they had to win to confirm their safety and ensure a more pleasant final weekend of the campaign. Things did not start well for them, as Students’ Gair Currie opened proceedings with a try eight minutes in, sprinting down the wing to cross.
Fylde responded from the restart, with talisman Fairbrother sprinting in from the halfway line to give the hosts their first score.
They were in the ascendancy, with 18-year-old Tom Carleton playing particularly well, when Loughborough scored against the run of play with Owen Waters going under the posts after a great counter-attack from the Students.
Fylde hit back with their second try of the afternoon, Greg Smith, using a penalty advantage, chipped a beauDavid tiful ball into the corner, which bounced into Connor Wilkinson’s arms for a magical try that had the home crowd in raptures.
And he did it again 15 minutes later, with an audacious grubber that drifted
into Chris Briers hands, the centre duly dotting down under the posts for try number three.
Fylde led 19-14 going into the second half, but Carleton dropped the restart and handed the Students a try within a minute of the whistle being blown. Jordan Olowofela doing the honours.
Smith responded with a stunning try down the wing. He converted his own score to secure the bonus point before adding two penalties to wrap up the win.
For Loughborough director of rugby Dave Morris it was a frustrating afternoon. However against a team fighting for their lives he admitted it was always going to be difficult.
He said: “I was disappointed with our performance but Fylde were obviously threatened with relegation and had more drive than we did.”
So Fylde live to fight another day in National One, while Arnold moves on to pastures new. It’s been a great run.