A first for Fleetwood as the game was officiated by a female referee. She did a good job and was certainly as good as any referee that we had last season.

The early exchanges saw Fleetwood take the game to Collegiate and it came as no surprise when a penalty was converted by Mike Jackson to give Fleetwood an early 3 point lead. Early season rustiness saw the game stagnate for a while with both teams struggling against resolute defences. With 30 minutes gone, sustained pressure by Fleetwood meant Collegiate conceded a series of penalties in quick succession. Fleetwood’s scrum was dominant and eventually the referee’s patience was exhausted and she awarded Fleetwood a penalty try to give them a 10-0 lead. Collegiate hit back quickly with a try of their own to leave the score at half time 10-7.

Collegiate were out of the blocks quickly at the start of the second half. Within three minutes of the restart they had scored a short range converted try to lead 10-14. Fleetwood hit back with a try when Mike Jackson crashed over with half the collegiate pack trying to prevent him scoring, to regain the lead. 15-14. Collegiate then hit back. A penalty kick restored their lead followed quickly by a try by their excellent scrum half to give them a 15-24 lead. Fleetwood were looking down the barrel of a gun but their grit and determination showed through. A yellow card to Collegiate for a high tackle was exploited by Fleetwood. First James Lilley broke through from close range to score a try which was converted by Mike Jackson, followed by Will Douglas scoring in the corner to restore Fleetwood’s lead 27-24. Captain Jack Brocklehurst, who had led by example throughout the game, scored from a quick tap penalty which Mike Jackson converted and a final flourish saw the pack win yet another ball against the head. The ball went out to Joe Kirton who cut through a tiring Collegiate defence to score a great individual try under the posts. Mike Jackson converted to give a final score 41-24.

The icing on the cake was a good 10-0 win for Fleetwood Wyresiders against Bolton.

Report by Steve Doherty

Dawsies Deliberations:

After a summer of heavy disruption and uncertainty, Saturday's result was a real lift for the entire club.
With north of double figures players leaving the club though retirement, relocation or just a fresh start elsewhere it was always going to be a tough ask to continue to compete and push forward at level 8. Fortunately, as is the way with the Fleetwood family, with some players leaving - some new faces appeared.

Without a recognised league midfield, Fleetwood entered into the fixture with a trio of Joe Kirton, Jack Brocklehurst and Nathan Corkhill - all of whom were outstanding on the day and grew into the game, all featuring heavily in a length of the pitch try and a terrific solo effort for Kirton. Of course there were some game management issues that require addressing, but in terms of heads up spacial recognition and movement of the ball across the pitch, the boys were excellent and were ably marshalled by the experienced Joe Harrison and Mike Kelly.

I have nothing but praise for all the players and members of the club. On Saturday we competed in and won two matches. The club was bouncing with beers shared between all Fleetwood players, supporters, family and old guard - regardless of the team they played for on the day as one family. This is how a club should work - no individual is any more important than another.

Saturday I was stoked for everyone at the club. In tough times, people show their colours and that's when we need to stick together the most. There will be more testing times ahead, but Saturday was a great start to the season for everyone involved.

Simon
#WeAreFleet