TYNEDALE’S winning run came to a soggy halt on Saturday when they were blown away at Lytham St Annes in a 31-5 defeat against Fylde. 

Torrential rain and a cruel wind combined with strong opponents to send Tynedale crashing to one of their heaviest defeats of the season against a side they had beaten comfortably at Corbridge back in October by 59-15.

But the monsoon conditions did not suit Tynedale’s running game, and the Fylde pack proved too much for Tynedale to handle, especially after the loss through injury of lock and line-out jumper Graeme Dunn towards the end of the first half. 

While the Tynedale forwards won most of their own line-outs, and held their own in the scrums, they struggled to make use of the possession they did get on a day to forget.

Despite the defeat, they remain eighth in National League Division Two North on 52 points, with a game in hand.

Although they faced the wind howling in off the Irish Sea during the the first half, Tynedale were first to score when 19-year-old scoring sensation Morgan Passman blasted his way over in the corner with just seven minutes gone.

It was the England U18 player’s 17th try of the season, following up his hat-trick the previous week, but that was as good as it got for Ben Woods’ troops.

Fly half Ben Hutton was unable to add the difficult conversion into the teeth of the gale, and despite Tynedale’s best efforts, the rest of the game belonged to the Lancastrians.

They drew level in the 19th minute with a breakaway try from full back Tom Carleton, with fly half Greg Smith converting.

Using the wind to good effect, Smith extended Fylde’s lead with a penalty on 26 minutes, before darting in for a touchdown soon afterwards, converting his own try to give the hosts a 17-5 interval lead.  

Just before the break, Tynedale lost Dunn to injury, with 19 year old Tom Marshall coming on as replacement.

The 12-point gap did not seem insurmountable given the weather conditions, but the wind dropped noticeably for the second period and Tynedale were always up against it.

Fylde extended their lead nine minutes in, when centre Connor Wilkinson crashed over from a maul, and Smith’s conversion took the gap to 19 points.

The hosts continued to dominate in the forward battle, with Tynedale having to resort to desperate defensive measures, which on 62 minutes, resulted in prop Liam Carmichael being sin-binned, and referee Timothy Allatt awarding Fylde a penalty try to take the score to 31-5 and end a miserable day for Tynedale. 

Tynedale’s impressive home record will be put to the test on Saturday when high flying Huddersfield, with their redoubtable pack, are the visitors. 

Huddersfield are third in the table on 69 points closing in on the top two, Hull Ionians on 73 and Chester on 71. 

Huddersfield defeated Tynedale 24-21 in the reverse fixture, but Tynedale Park has become something of a fortress as the season has progressed, with the last six home matches all ending in victories for the Blue and Whites. The game kicks off at 2pm.  

After the match, fans will be welcomed into the clubhouse not only to warm up, but to watch England take on Ireland in the Six Nations Championship.