19/01/2025
Fylde not quite at the (Chester) Races
Chester 25 – 19 Fylde: report by Sean Townsend
Fylde made the short journey to Hare Lane following a four-week hiatus after their win at Preston Grasshoppers
The visitors shuffled the pack, and their backline, bringing Matt Ashcroft onto the flank, Sam Parker into the front row and the exciting prospect, Sebi Krippner onto the left wing. Lewis Quinn, Tom Davis & Alex Clayton all moved onto the bench
A late change saw your regular away match correspondent struck down by a bug and a replacement hastily arranged. Apologies going forward …
Chester kicked off and immediately had Fylde on the back foot in their twenty-two. Fylde being Fylde elected to run the ball out of defence, but after several phases the ball went to ground and Chester were able to gather and cross for the opening try from Daffyd Williams. Sam Rogers converted
From the restart Chester made their way back into Fylde’s half and, whilst Fylde managed to defend their line, once they turned the ball over, were unable to keep possession and Williams intercepted to score his second. Rogers was just off target with the extras
Another restart, but this time Fylde managed to snag the ball back and keep it for a number of minutes. An infringement from the home side allowed Patrick Bishop to kick close to the Chester five metre line. The resultant catch & drive at the lineout saw Sam Parker emerge as the try scorer. Bishop saw his conversion attempt rebound off the upright. Unfortunately, this was Parker’s last involvement as he left the field with a hand injury to be replaced by Tom Davis
There was then a period where both sides had plenty of possession and attempted to play rugby, but errors somewhat disrupted the play. During this period, Sebi Krippner was unfortunate to have his afternoon ended early with a hamstring injury; Alex Clayton replacing him
From one of Chester’s forays into Fylde’s twenty-two, a missed tackle allowed Sam Earl-Jones through to score with Rogers adding the conversion
Fylde hit back after a well worked move down the blind side saw Freddie Reader put a wonderful grubber kick through. Chester knocked on and were then deemed offside. Another caught & driven lineout and this time it was Davis who squeezed in by the corner post. Bishop was on target with his conversion from the touchline
Rogers kicked a penalty for Chester on the stroke of halftime and the sides went into the sheds with Chester leading 22-12
Fylde’s travelling supporters were looking for an improved second half performance and this was certainly the case in the opening moments when Jordan Dorrington gathered Bishop’s restart and Fylde were immediately on the attack.
Chester managed to clear their lines, but the kick only found Reader who, as often the case, made some good metres to set Fylde’s position. Chester did turn the ball over, but their clearance kick was charged down by Matthew Garrod who then followed through to ground the ball. Bishop was on point with the conversion, and it was 22-19 and game on
A period of back & forth play saw both sides looking to gain the advantage. Rogers extended the home side’s lead to 25-19 with a fine penalty kick from the halfway line, but Fylde were still in the contest and launched a series of attacking raids on Chester’s line. The home side defended in equal measure and were able to see the game out. A final penalty conceded by the visitors allowed Chester to kick the ball into touch and end the game
Fylde will be disappointed to only come away with the one point, but all credit to the young Chester side who put on tremendous display for the healthy sized crowd (who included in their number former Fylde Vandals, John Inverdale & Sir Bill Beaumont!)
CHESTER
15 Earl-Jones; 14 Williams, 13 McMinimee, 12 Ivory, 11 Tomlinson; 10 Rogers, 9 Ellis (Hampson 48); 1 Woods (Sanderson 62, Woods 72), 2 Hanson,(Robson 40) 3 Furnival (Hanson 65), 4 Hurn, 5 Deehan, 6 Graham, 7 Roberts (Harrop 62), 8 Jones.
Non-playing reps: Heaton.
FYLDE
15 Dorrington; 14 Turner, 13 Reader, 12 Stott, 11 Krippner (Clayton 23); 10 Bishop (Quinn 47, Bishop 55). 9 Gould; 1 Bowker, 2 Parker (Davis 13), 3 Altham (Rudkin 57), 4 Walton (Morgan 57), 5 Garrod, 6 Ashcroft, 7 Harrison, 8 Fairbrother.
