New Brighton Heartened By Improved Performance

Team Sheet:1. Damian Penisini, 2. Phil Buckley, 3. Anthony Probert, 4. Jay Stirrett, 5. Jon Sewell, 6. Chris Naylor, 7. Wayne Clayton, 8. Kati Tuipulotu, 9. Alan Hesketh, 10. Steve Dean, 11. Alistair Child, 12.Jon Harris, 13. Ian Murray, 14. Vinny Dutton, 15.Jim Yarranton,
Substitutes:16.Adam Whatling, 17. Andy Donaldson,18. Ben Lazenby, 19. Sean Ellis

With the continued absence of Steve Fox and Jez Lamb from the engine room, New Brighton chose to move Jon Sewell up to the second row with Jay Stirrett, bring in Anthony Probert to start as prop and move Chris Naylor from prop to blind side. The combination worked very well. The lineout worked well, the front row was solid, Anthony Probert made a fine contribution in the loose and Chris Naylor revelled both in the freedom of the back row and in the truly atrocious conditions which seemed to suit his rampaging style. Where the Blues struggled was against the size of the opposing forwards who by putting pressure the home eight made it difficult to provide the quick ball for Kati at No 8 and scum half Alan Hesketh. .. .

Fylde kicked off and had the Blues pinned back in their own half for the whole of the first quarter. A lineout, for which Fylde were surprisingly awarded the throw in, provided the spring board for an attack which ran through several phases and ended with wing forward Andy Atkinson crossing the the line on 12 minutes for a try converted by Mike Scott to put the visitors ahead by seven points to nil.

Though having a fair share of the ball, the Blues had difficulty crossing the gain line but some well judged kicks from Steve Dean established a position in the Fylde half from which the same player kicked a penalty on 25 minutes only to have centre Paul Green put Fylde further ahead with a fine try under the post almost immediately after the restart.

Again the Blues attacked and were succesful with a driving maul to put Kati in near the corner. A slight confusion when the ball was fielded deep in the New Brighton half on the restart resulted in a very harsh penalty decision for crossing which Mike Scott happily converted on the stroke of half time.

Half Time Score: New Brighton 8 - 17 Fylde

No improvement in the weather in the second half punctuated with very heavy showers. Both sides were having more success gaining ground with the boot rather than carrying the ball, conditions making handling difficult. On 50 minutes Fylde used their superior weight in the scrum to score a pushover try credited to Dylan O'Grady, which with the conversion, pushed the Fylde lead to 22 points to 8. New Brighton never gave up but again were penalised for a very debatable high tackle and for Mike Scott to further stretch the lead to 27 points to 8

New Brighton are struggling but for the supporters it was a heartening performance from which the players emerged with a lot of credit. Chairman of Rugby, Karl Davies, said " We are making progress. The discipline is better and the work we are doing in training is taking a hold on the field with improvements in both individual and team performances." Most who watched the game would agree with that assessment and perhaps the small shoots of a revival in the club's fortunes are just beginning to show.

Full Time Score: New Brighton 8 - 27 Fylde