Hard work reaps rewards for Cambridge at Fylde

Impressive win on the road

Ross Stewart hailed the hard work of Cambridge as they went a long way to securing their National League One status with a 46-28 win at Fylde.

After the lows of the defeat to Esher in their previous game left them looking over their shoulder, taking the five points in the North West eased their concerns.

Two tries from James Ayrton, one apiece from Oli Petrides, Stefan Liebenberg, Mike Ayrton and David Langley and 16 points from the boot of Dan Lewis sealed the win as they surged into a 36-14 half-time lead.

And director of rugby Stewart was delighted by their performance.

“For as bad as we were against Esher, we did outstandingly well against Fylde,” he said.

“You can’t underestimate how hard we had to work against Fylde because they are a threat. The whole of the performance was just built on hard graft. They never stopped working in defence or attack and that’s really where we got all our joy.

“We scored just before half time which gave us a bit of breathing space – we did what other teams have been doing to us so we went in at half time with a 14-point swing.

“We came out in the second half and it was a little bit disappointing to give them a bonus point, but the boys had put in a hell of a shift.”

Stewart was delighted to see the fruits of their labour reap the rewards, and is confident that if they continue in the same vein, then Cambridge can have a strong finish to the season.

“We’ve tried not to alter from our plan and we all know we’ve not been firing on all cylinders,” said Stewart.

“We knew it was going to come but it was going to have to come on the back of hard work.

“If we work this hard in every game, then we will always challenge teams as our attack is that good. Hopefully it will give us a springboard for the end of the season.”

And it is another sign of Cambridge’s good performances on the road, although their displays at home have been a bit more patchy.

“Our home form hasn’t been anywhere near as good as we hoped at the start of the year, which is disappointing, but it’s something that we will look to improve,” said Stewart.

“The boys are a close-knit group and really genuinely enjoy their time together and so away trips suit us.

“It does make a bit of a difference when you get on the pitch, sharing those experiences with each other, so it’s something we will look to do more of next year.”