Hoppers started brightly, despite the downpour and strong winds with an early try but that’s when the wheels fell off. This just seemed to kick a very well drilled and organised Fylde side into action.

Fylde scored several well worked tries using their powerful pack and moving the ball out wide at just the right times. Hoppers lads kept pushing and grabbed a late bonus point for a fourth try but returned home knowing that we simply weren’t good enough.

“Losing isn’t a good feeling but it was made worse by the way we played. We didn’t look like the team I know we are - we didn’t play to our shape at all and struggled to build any possession or any kind of patterns.

The most disappointing aspect of the afternoon was that we looked really flat and didn’t work hard enough or look up for the game and that’s not good enough in any match let alone in a local derby.

The players are the only ones who can change that aspect of the game and I’m sure they will because that wasn’t like us at all”

The 2nd XV host Chester this week with a 12 pm KO as a curtain raiser to the 1st XV.

Reports and comments by 1st XV Assistant Coach Alan Haworth