Fleetwood 42

Burnley 17

BURNLEY travelled to Fleetwood for the first time in more than 10 years and they were blown away by the pace of the home side.

Fleetwood almost scored off the first play of the match as at least six tackles were missed but luckily for the travelling team a last ditch one was made to keep them out.

However the home team were soon on the score sheet with their first try.

Burnley suffered an early yellow card and as the game progressed, Fleetwood appeared to have an extra player in the backs as their back row very rarely went near the rucks.

After the break, Burnley were on the board first thanks to a try from Zane Smith who also added the conversion.

Then the home team scored a push over try - usually an area of strength for Burnley.

There were some positives to take out of the game for Burnley as they scored the next two tries - both for the impressive Smith who secured his hat-trick.

The first followed a good moved with Jimmy White releasing Smith while his second was an interception where he sprinted away to score.

But that came at a cost as the centre’s afternoon finished early as he suffered a slight hamstring strain.

Fleetwood rounded of the match with a seven point score to seal a 42-17 win.

Coach Simon Finna said: “There were a few home truths said at half time. Rugby is a basic game and if lads tackle and carry hard into contact areas and pass the ball around, things will happen.

“Moving forward, Danny Rowland controlled things around the scrum, Rob Lawless carried with real power and 18-year-old Connor Deasey made his debut.”

Burnley: A Healy, A Campbell, C Pickles, A Lee, C Gregory, R Clarke, A Rothwell, J Stockdale, D Rowland, A Spencer, G Hibbert, Z Smith, C Deasey, S Mounsey, R Lawless, R Birchall, B Healy, J White.