Fylde……………… 47pts
Chester………….. 24pts
JORDAN Dorrington grabbed a hat-trick of tries as Fylde proved too strong for Chester.
This was game that was bound to be competitive, after both teams had been victorious over Preston Grasshoppers, but heavily beaten by Lymm earlier in the season
It was Chester who opened the scoring with an early try for Dafydd Williams, who capitalised on a misplaced pass. The conversion was added by Morgan Bagshaw.
Fylde were struggling early on, but with a penalty advantage, Patrick Bishop chipped the ball into a congested goal area, picking out Dorrington to bring the home side back within a conversion, which was comfortably scored by Patrick Bishop.
Fylde maintained the first-half pressure, leading to a driving maul off a line-out, which was touched down by Matt Garrod.
Another converted Fylde try from Garrod, this time from the scrum, meant the hosts had breathing space heading into half time.
Fylde continued their pressure into the second half and added another seven points to their tally when Greg Morgan scored a converted try with his first carry.
It got even better for Fylde when a perfectly timed offload gave Dorrington a clear run beneath the posts to give the hosts seven more points. This left Fylde with a comfortable 33-7 lead.
However, there was still life in Chester who attempted a comeback with 15 to play. David Jones was eventually able to force the ball over the line for the visitors.
But Fylde were quick to shut this down moments later thanks to a beautiful passing phase, which resulted in Dorrington completing his hat-trick of tries, followed by a super conversion from Bishop in the corner.
The final ten minutes was a whirlwind of action, beginning with Chester scoring in the corner through Joe Heaton. This was followed moments later by a Garrod sin-binning after numerous penalties.
Chester used the man advantage to travel up the other end of the pitch, for referee George Ounsley to award a try for Ben Raubitschek despite the ball appearing as if it was knocked-on.
This wouldn’t have any lasting effect on the scoreline, however, as Fylde hit back in the last minute through Matt Ashcroft. Another superb conversion from Bishop was the icing on Fylde’s cake, rounding off a solid after noon for them.
Fylde joint head coach Chris Briers commented after the game: “There was a lot of good rugby played by us.
“We seemed to improve as the game went on until maybe the last ten minutes or so when we got a bit soft and let Chester in for a few tries. But it was still good to win.”
REFEREE: George Ounsley
ATTENDANCE: 1,080
Star player Jordan Dorrington -Fylde
TEAMS
FYLDE: Reader, Turner, Stott, Clayton, Dorrington, Bishop, Gaughan; Bowker, Williamson, Trippier, Walton, Garrod, Quinn, Ashcroft, Fairbrother
Replacements: Rudkin, Altham, Morgan, Atherton, Forster
CHESTER: Long, Williams, McMinimee, Hamilton, Heaton, Bagshaw, Ellis; Woods, Hanson, Cleverly, Powell, Spalding, Wilkinson, Roberts, Jones
Replacements: Clarke, Furnival, Graham, Craven, Raubitschek