Blaydon extend winning streak to 4

[match id=115]

In a first half littered with errors by both sides the game was going nowhere until Fylde centre Chris Briers was yellow carded for a high tackle on Nathan Bailey and the visitors responded with a try right on the interval and then another 2 minutes into the second period. Blaydon needed to hit back quickly and so they did.

Director of rugby Micky Ward said afterwards “I was really pleased with the way we came through. We just didn’t do ourselves justice in the first half when our ill discipline let us down”.

Andrew Baggett’s 14th minute penalty looked to be the only score of the half until the dying seconds when a Fylde rolling maul took it almost to the line where they whipped it out for winger Oli Brennand to touch down.

Worse was to follow when still down to 14 men Fylde grabbed a second score through flanker Steve McGinnis after their forceful lock Paul Arnold had stormed into the 22, and Blaydon were staring into an abyss at 3-14.

Substitutions were made, the game opened up and in no time at all Blaydon had turned it around. Lock Chris Wearmouth grabbed a superb solo effort when at a line-out from a penalty to the corner he spotted a gap and raced clear unchallenged. Baggett added the extras and was on the mark again 5 minutes later after man of the match Harry Bate had set up and then scored the decisive try.

The flanker set off on a brilliant run into the 22 from half-way before moving it on to Tom Bramwell whose pass to the wing disappointingly went down. Fortunately however Fylde infringed from the clearance and Bate was driven over from the driving line-out.

John Brennan