Fylde 9 – Blaydon 5

All good things must come to an end and Blaydon’s 10 match unbeaten run floundered in the driving wind and rain on the Lancashire coast. Conditions were so bad that line-outs were a lottery throughout and neither side was able to make use of the end to end gale when it was behind them, almost the entire game being played out between the 22’s.

In the second period when it was Blaydon’s turn to have the so-called advantage they were just 4 points adrift and sensibly kept the ball in hand but still could make no progress and got no closer to scoring than an Andrew Baggett penalty that rebounded from the woodwork.

Fylde to their credit looked after the ball slightly better, took their penalty points when available and overall just about deserved to win.

Chris Johnson the home fly-half was on target with penalties in the 6th and 23rd minutes but Blaydon grabbed the only try of the game, not surprisingly in the circumstances by the efforts of the forwards They moved it rapidly through a number of hands for skipper Keith Laughlin to finish off in the corner but then disappointingly saw Baggett’s conversion attempt heading for the posts only to be dragged wide by the wind at the last moment.

Leading 6-5 at the break Fylde defended superbly to hold their advantage and went on to put the issue beyond doubt with another Jackson penalty.

John Brennan