Fylde started on the front foot from the kick off and after 5 mins of building numerous phases number 8 David Fairbrother went over in the corner.  Fly half Greg Smith was unlucky as he hit the post with the conversion.

Blaydon’s response was strong and from a midfield scrum they went right to James Cooney and then quickly recycled and spun it out left and winger Jonny Ashman took play to the Fylde 22 and a clever off-load was picked up by centre Zach Thompson to score out wide. Scrum half John Clarkson’s conversion was unsuccessful.

The next 25 minutes went by with both teams playing positive rugby and testing the oppositions defence but each time either team got momentum they made a mistake, so they were cancelling each other out with good well organised defence.  Frustratingly for the home side, on 33 minutes Fylde sprung to life through centre Sam Stott who ran a strong line through the Blaydon defence and full back Jordan Dorrington was on hand to take his path and score. Greg Smith converting this time.

Blaydon’s response was immediate and Replacement Full back Lewis Williams made a good break from inside his own half and his Kick ahead took play to the Fylde 5m line and a few forward drives later Hooker Charlie Smith went over the line to score. John Clarkson added the extras.

Half time Blaydon 12 v Fylde 12

The 2nd half started where both teams finished the 2^nd with both teams playing positive attacking rugby. On 49 minutes a number of Blaydon penalties took Fylde to the Blaydon line and eventually Greg Smith went over in the corner much to the frustration of the home side who had seen a clear knock on in the build-up to the try, Smith failed to convert his own try.

The game turned at this point and it seemed so did  Blaydon’s luck and to an extent their composure, and on 57minutes with Blaydon now down to 13 men thanks to 2 yellow cards. Replacement centre / prop Scott Rawlings went through a stretched Blaydon defence to score unopposed. Smith converted.

Blaydon fought valiantly for the next 20 minutes and were pushing hard to be the next scorer but errors cost Blaydon field position and shortly after another Blaydon yellow card, Fylde Centre Connor Wilkinson went over for a try in the last play of the game. Greg smith converting

This was a harsh end to what was a good performance by the home side, some great intensity in defence and some strong attacking play by the backs. However we come away from the game with nothing apart from a feeling that if we can play with that level of effort and enterprise again against teams further down the table, we will surely start picking up points.

Full Time: Blaydon 12 v Fylde 31 

Blaydon: Bailey, Ashman, Cooney (C ), Thompson, Obonna, Dowell, Clarkson, Siddle, Smith, Dodds, Barry, Phillips, Turnbull, Roy, Hall-Lyon

Replacements:  Sanderson, Rewcastle, Leggetter, Douglas, Williams

Fylde: Dorrington, Turner, Wilkinson, Stott, Grimes, Smith, Potts, Barrow, Gregory (C ), Bowker, Parkinson, Corry, Harrison, Higginson, Fairbrother (C)

Replacements:  Parker, Higgins, Garrod, Lanigan, Rawlings

REFEREE:   Daniel Woods

ATTENDANCE:  205

STAR MAN:   Fylde – Greg Smith

Scorers:

Blaydon  12

Tries:     Thompson 10, Smith 34

Conversions:  Clarkson 35

Penalties:

Fylde 31

Tries:            Fairbrother 4, Dorrington 30, Smith 49, Rawlings 57 Wilkinson 79

Conversions:  Smith 31, 58, 80

Penalties:

Blaydon started extremely quickly stretching the play left and right working their way to the Rotherham 22metre line where a handling error by the a Rotherham forward gave Blaydon Scrum Half John Clarkson the ball, and he chipped over the only defender to score. He easily converted his own score.

5 minutes later, the Clarkson show continued, following a scrum on the halfway line, Clarkson took it blind from the base and Rotherhams defence were not awake, he ghosted past the full back to score wide out, this time missing the conversion.

Rotherham had the upper hand in the scrum and were being awarded penalties each time they had the put in.  As a result they were getting a lot of ball in the Blaydon half and after 10 minutes of pressure Blaydon lost Nathan Bailey to a yellow card. A few phases later Rotherham right wing Jack Hedley went over unopposed. Centre Richard Hayes adding the extras.

Frustratingly 5 minutes later another scrum was demolished by the Rotherham pack and they got the ball out wide and again Jack Hedley scored this time cutting back inside, the try was again converted by Hayes.

Rotherham were gaining the ascendency and scored again on half time, this time a clever cross field kick to left winger Jack Taylor. Hayes this time missing the conversion.

Half Time: Blaydon 12 – 19 Rotherham

Rotherham picked up where they left off in the first half and a good run by 2nd row Matt Challinor, was well supported by the backs who fed in winger Jack Hedley for his Hat trick and another converted try.

Blaydon responded well, quick thinking by replacement a scrum Half, Ben Douglos who took play to the Rotherham 22. The ball was spun out and a pass behind him forced replacement fly half Zach Thompson back to the forwards but they were not expecting it and he went straight through them to score. He then converted his own try as Clarkson had been substituted.

The game ebbed and flowed for 10 minutes but on 62 Minutes a good move in the Rotherham backs which was debatably obstructing the Blaydon defender led to a converted try for Scrum Half Sam Boxhall.

Blaydon responded well and were hammering away at the Rotherham line, however just when the home side were anticipating getting back in the game, the away side Scrum Half intercepted a Ben Douglas pass and went the length of the field to score. Its hard to understand how he wasn’t offside given the ground he had to cover to take the pass but it went unpunished.  Hayes converted to put the knife in the home sides slim hopes of snatching something from the game.

Rotherham scored again in what turned out to be the final play of the game as they went blind from a scrum and the home defence was none-existent, this time replacement back row Callum Bustin the scorer, again converted by Hayes.

The scoreline probably doesn’t reflect the performance and had we scored when Boxhall controversially intercepted the score would have then been 26 – 33 not 19 – 40.

Full Time: Blaydon 19 v Rotherham 47

Blaydon: Bailey, Ashman, Cooney, Greenlaw, Appleton, Marshall (C), Clarkson, Appleby, Smith, Dodds, Barry, Phillips, Wright, Roy, Hall-Lyon

Replacements:  Siddle, Sanderson, Turnbull, Douglas, Thompson

Rotherham: Veall, Hedley, Taylor, Hayes, Sableman-Blue, Dever, Boxhall, Capps, Bermanas, Denman, Challinor, Allan, Payne, Kay, Poole (C)

Replacements:  Newborn, Rylance, Bustin, Nwoshu-Hope, Ollivent

REFEREE:   Dave Charlton

ATTENDANCE:  232

STAR MAN:  Rotherham – Jack Hedley

Scorers:

Blaydon  19

Tries:    Clarkson 3, 11, Thompson 46

Conversions:  Clarkson 4, Thompson 47

Penalties:

Rotherham 47

Tries:            Hedley 25, 30, 43 Taylor 39, Boxhall 62, 71 Bustin 79

Conversions:  Hayes 26, 31, 44, 63, 72, 80

Penalties: