AFC Fylde fell to a narrow 2-1 defeat against Spennymoor Town on Good Friday, despite taking the lead through Joe Rowley.
Following a first half that was stop-start for the majority of the 45, the Coasters took the lead 20 minutes after the restart when Will Hatfield threaded a through ball to Rowley, who ran onto it and slotted into the far corner.
Spennymoor levelled in the 78th minute through Glen Taylor after he rose and powered home a header from a corner before adding his and Spennymoor’s second of the afternoon in the last minute of the game.
Substitute Corey McKeown spotted the clever run of Taylor with a reverse pass on the edge of the box for the Moors number nine to take one touch and lift over Neal and seal victory for his side.
Adam Murray made three changes to the side that secured a 3-0 victory over Brackley Town, with Dan Pike, Will Hatfield & Luke Charman replacing Connor Barrett, Danny Whitehead, and the suspended Nick Haughton.
The Coasters started proceedings in a positive fashion, as Siya Ligendza was dragged down by James Curtis on the edge of the area before Danny Philliskirk stepped up and curled over.
In terms of the game having a flow to it, there wasn’t one, with the physios constantly on and off the pitch.
However, when striker Glen Taylor had a little sniff inside the 18-yard box for the hosts, he managed to spin off Alex Whitmore from a throw but drag his shot wide of Chris Neal’s post.
Half-Time: Spennymoor Town 0-0 AFC Fylde
After an uneventful first 45, it was the hosts who had the first opportunity of the half when a corner from the right was met by the towering Lebrun Mbeka as he headed into the gloves of Neal.
Fylde started to put some nice stuff together, and that saw Dan Pike swing a ball down the right for Rowley, who drifted past Tom Angell to whip a cross towards Luke Charman inside the area, but he was beaten to it by John Lufudu and Harry Flatters gathered.
Although it wasn’t a meeting that was blessed with chances, the Coasters found the breakthrough via Rowley.
A bouncing ball was held up by Hatfield superbly before he drove at the Spennymoor Town defence and dinked a little through ball to Rowley running in on goal, who lifted it into the far corner of the net for the opener.
It wasn’t a lead that the Coasters had for long when a corner from the left was met by Taylor and slammed into the top corner of the net with his head.
Things were about to get a little worse for the Coasters in the final ten minutes when against the run of play, Spennymoor grabbed another.
Corey McKeown slipped Taylor through inside the 18-yard box, and he lifted over Neal and into the net for all three points.
Full-Time: Spennymoor Town 2-1 AFC Fylde
Spennymoor Town: Flatters, Lufudu (81’ Shanks), Curtis, Blackett (72’ McKeown), Ross, Ledger, Angell, Greaves, Mbeka, Ramshaw, Taylor.
Unused subs: Wombwell, Day, Wood.
AFC Fylde: Neal, Davis, Whitmore, Bird, Conlan, Pike (77’ Obi), Hatfield, Philliskirk, Rowley, Charman (60’ Cybulski), Ligendza (68’ Barrett).
Unused Subs: Malone, Delfouneso.
