The Coasters’ FA Trophy journey came to an end in Essex as, National League South side, Aveley came away with a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Nana Kyei.

Chris Beech rang the changes for the fixture which saw the introduction of new signing Ethan Mitchell who started in Fylde colours under 24 hours after being announced at Mill Farm on a short-term loan from Wigan Athletic. The starting XI also saw starts for Tom Walker, Taelor O’Kane and Liam Muscart who made his senior debut for the club.

On a cold afternoon on the outskirts of the capital, it was the hosts who saw the better of the chances early on, with Nana Kyei getting into some space on the edge of the Fylde box but couldn’t quite get a shot away. 

The best chance of the half came from Vaz’s cross in towards Hughes whose header went narrowly over the crossbar. Following a few chances for the home side, Chris Neal was forced into his first save of the game to keep out Charlee Hughes who fired a shot into the arms of the returning keeper.

Fylde did create a few opportunities to speak of in the first half, the best of which saw a long-range strike from Danny Whitehead narrowly fall the wrong side of the post.

It was Kyei’s header just before half-time which turned into the game’s only goal, as he rose higher than Muscart on the back post to force the ball past Neal in between the sticks for the Coasters and give the home side the lead going into the break.

Half-time: Aveley 1-0 AFC Fylde

The second half started with the Coasters very much on top, as the visitors regained control over a scrappy affair, with Nick Haughton and Danny Ormerod both forcing comfortable saves from North.

The best chance of the second half came when Haughton’s inswinging free-kick went narrowly wide of the top corner, much to the relief of the home crowd who thought it was enough to level the game up.

Haughton again came close moments later when his right-footed hit from the edge of the area, once again whistled agonisingly wide of the post.

Chris Beech then rang three subs for the visitors, which saw Luke Charman, Danny Whitehead & Max Conway all enter the frame, of which Conway almost made an immediate impact forcing a fingertip save from North.

The final ten minutes saw an onslaught of chances from the visitors, of which the home side stood firm and held their own into the nine minutes of added time and claimed victory which saw them enter the final sixteen of the competition.

Full-time: Aveley 1-0 AFC Fylde

Starting XI: Neal, Rowley (Charman 60′), Haughton, Kay, Graham, Glynn, Walker (Whitehead 60′), Oemerod, Mitchell, O’Kane, Muscart (Conway 60′).

Unused Subs: Richardson, Davis, Barrett, Ustabasi.