Positives despite 2nd's score

Dale Thompson took a quick tap and go with a very strong run pushing Southport back onto there 5 metre line. Fleetwood then won a scrum but unfortunately a quick hook by the opposition let Southport clear well with a kick and a strong chase. With Southport still in possession they hit hard but Fleetwood showed good defensive practice on the field. A great turnover was won by Chris (Smithy) on our own try line and a good set of hands through the backs left Fleetwood’s winger clear for a good run – HOWEVER – a slight forward final pass cost Fleetwood. With heads down from a silly mistake it followed by another meaning Southport were able to kick a penalty making it 3-0 Southport in the 9th minute.

Another great kick off with a Smithy scoop up from the bounce, and again Fleetwood attacking well! For the second time on a Fleetwood attack this led to another forward pass on another open - wing just in front of the try line. Southport used this to their advantage well and with a poor show off tackling Fleetwood let Southport’s 12 have a strong run towards the try line making it 1-on-1 with Fleetwood’s 15 – Stuart. An amazing try saving tackle by Fleetwood with a textbook hit, worthy of a fine reduction (please note: no fine reduction was given). A few little errors gave Southport another chance for 3 points but thankfully for Fleetwood this drifted wide of the post.

Working well into the second half Fleetwood decided to pull up there socks and showed some great tackles by centres Alex Maddern (Also known as Ste-Roid) and Lee Greenwood. Captain Jack Foden showed how things were done with a great drop on a lose ball giving Fleetwood back the possession they needed. Winning another penalty Dale T once again made a quick tap and another successful run, unfortunately for him this time he had no support and had no choice but to give away a pen which Southport converted making it 6-0 in the 21st minute. Once again Southport feared the kick off from Fleetwood, and so they should, a great line chase, a strong win, and a slight dangerous dump tackle on centre Lee Greenwood created a penalty opportunity for Fleetwood but drifted just below by Jacko. Quick drop by Southport led to a mismatch of tackling from Fleetwood and give Southport a good platform to attack, the ever faithful Larkin held back well and gave his signature “smash” tackle to save a try. With Southport retaining possession and Fleetwood’s failed blitz defence gave an easy try to SP in the 24th min – 11-0 Southport.

Some good spells from Fleetwood had been shown and they were required to keep up the strong work, good cover work by Smithy however a poor show off hands give SP possibly one of the easiest tries they will score this season, a slight lack off hands, and communication led to this, converted well making it 18-0 in the 26th min.

Fleetwood were now showing signs of frustration (unsure if that is just captain Foden’s usual look or not), heads down and Southport picking up fantastic momentum it wasn’t long before Fleetwood were 25-0 down. Not letting this put them off some good spells from Joe Kirton (still not as good as his Dad), and a nice quick penalty from Smithy led to a very VERY long stretch by Larkin to give Fleetwood a well deserved 5 points (35th min) and a good conversion by Jacko mean the half tome score ended 25-7….all was not lost.

HT came and went, water was drank. Very eventful.

Now… Fleetwood had to attack hard from the start of this half, however Southport wished to do the same, with Lee Greenwood off at halftime and a shuffle around the backs injuries were showing. Southport capitalised on this and in the 3rd minute of the 2nd half they sliced through Fleetwood defence like a hot knife through butter. Fleetwood left bewildered by this SP made it 32-7 in no time.

Frustration running high on the pitch and heads going down gave SP more to work with, and just 2 minutes later they scored again – 32-7. This wasn’t ideal, Fleetwood started to lose scrums – an area which all the pack had been very strong in previously – then within the next 2 minutes Southport managed to score 2 more tries. 44-7 in the 14th minute.

This wasn’t how Fleetwood wanted the game to go, and now going down to 14 men this was game over for the 2’s. Instead of letting the score put them off and with strong words from the side line about not conceding another point this would be a tough call. Down to 14 me and still not halfway through the second half Fleetwood decided to listen and started to pick up defensive skills once again. 15 Stuart showing more good signs of strong running now in the centre position and what was self described by Maddern as “The best offload ever” happened. He still to this day claims the glory, however we described it more as a falling flick then an offload – still this looked good and helped Fleetwood attack well. Jacko picked up pace with a great run and good support by Fleetwood forced Southport to give away a penalty.

“No Mess Larkin” picked up and went quickly running hard and low at possibly the biggest forward in Southport, 99% sure Larkin isn’t wired up right or if he had balls of steal, but being a Larkin it could well be both. This did give Fleetwood another 5 points and a follow up 2 points but Jacko in the 32nd minute.

Final score was Southport 51 – Fleetwood 14. Although the score line has a big difference the 2’s should take away some of the success they did have, strong runs, spells of fantastic courage and defence, and keeping a very strong and well drilled Southport down to 0 points for a good 20-25 minutes. No man of the match was selected but some nice rugby from Mark Evans, Larkin, Dale and Joe Kirton throughout.

Match Report – Simon Betty