KENDAL bade a winning farewell to the National League, but apart from a satisfactory result there was little to commend this shapeless, end-of-season match on a dull rain-swept afternoon.

Neither side could impose a definite pattern on the play and while Kendal dominated possession for long periods they struggled to reflect it on the scoreboard.

Fylde's hefty pack had the measure of the visitors in the set scrum, but it was a different story in the backs with Mark Airey always a lively presence at scrum-half and Mike Scott kicking well and orchestrating play better than his counterpart.

Kendal's early territorial advantage was rewarded with a seventh-minute penalty which Scott slotted over from in front of the posts.

However, left wing Tim Whitehead had to scramble back for a try-saving tackle on Fylde centre Paul Reeves in after 16th minutes and it was a little harshly adjudged to be high and Phil Macey levelled the scores with the penalty.

Just three minutes later elapsed before Scott restored the lead with a second penalty and that was the sum total of the scoring before half time.

Apart from that, the first half was only notable for the loss of Kendal veteran prop Ian Thompson when his suspect knee gave way, bringing Duncan Green off the bench.

Even the redoutable Thompson

It was still hard to see where the breakthrough for a try was going to come from.

When it arrived Fylde's poor judgement played a part as much as Airey's alertness.

He charged down a clearance kick in the 22 and the ball was scrambled to touch as he tried to dribble it over the tryline.

Inexplicably, Fylde, who had control of the lineouts, tried to take a quick throw only for the receiver to fumble it over the line, allowing Airey to sneak in for a cheeky touch down.

Scott converted to put Kendal 13-3 ahead.

Moments later, Kendal swept the ball out from a lineout to centre Martin Armstrong, who broke the gain line and got the pass away in the tackle to Whitehead, whose momentum carried him over the the tryline for a second try as the cover tried to wrap him up.

After that double blow, Fylde managed to prevent Kendal extending their lead and had the final say three minutes from the end when flanker Carl Lavin was driven over from a catch and drive for an unconverted try.

n Second-row Dave Preston earned his cap in this match for making 20 first-team appearances.

May 2, 2003 08:30