AFC Fylde 1-0 Curzon Ashton

Danny Rowe 27’

Danny Rowe got the FA Trophy holders off to a perfect start, with his first half goal enough to help the Coasters past Curzon Ashton.

The first chance of the afternoon came for the Coasters after great wing play from Matty Kosylo allowed him to set the ball back to James Craigen.

Craigen floated a lovely ball towards Danny Rowe, who peeled off his man well, but his header went just wide of the post.

Kosylo was having plenty of joy on the ball, Nick Haughton this time receiving a pass from him, and shooting from the edge of the area – but Cameron Mason held firm.

Then, just before the half hour mark, the Coasters took the lead. Lewis Montrose found space in the 18-yard-box to square a ball across goal to the back post where Danny Rowe was waiting to tap in.

The Coasters wanted more. Haughton received the ball on the edge of the area and tried placing a left footed shot into the far corner, but his attempt went just wide.

Rowe was in the mood after scoring his first, the angle opened for him to shoot a venomous shot towards goal, but again Mason got down well to deny him.

HALF-TIME: AFC Fylde 1 – 0 Curzon Ashton

After the break, the Coasters kept the tempo up – and Philliskirk did well to beat the offside trap and pull the ball back to Craigen, but his shot skewed just over the bar.

The chances were free-flowing for Fylde as Kosylo twisted and turned his man in the area, but a man on the line for Curzon Ashton hacked his effort away.

Curzon’s chances were limited – a sliced Whitmore clearance the first real threat, but Burke was there to clear off the line.

They took confidence from this, and perhaps their best chance fell to Isaac Sinclair – who jinked into space before sending an effort goalwards, forcing Hornby into a smart stop.

What looked to be a second goal for the Coasters was cleared off of the line – again falling Danny Rowe’s way.

Rowe did well to get his shot away, but at point blank range, Mason denied him – it seemed it may have crept in, but was once more cleared off the line by Curzon.

The Coasters looked comfortable seeing the game out – and another clean sheet pushes Bentley’s Fylde to a remarkable six clean sheets from eight games.

Teams

AFC Fylde: Hornby, Jameson, Whitmore, Byrne, Burke, Montrose (Yeates 67’), Philliskirk, Craigen, Haughton, Kosylo (Kellet 85’), Rowe.

Subs unused: Lavercombe, Duxbury, Forbes.

Curzon Ashton (433): Mason, Halls, Davies, Wroe (C), Shaw, Evans (Doyle 71’), Miller, Calveley (McCann 85’), Sinclair (Beckford 80’), Jolley, Baillie.

Subs unused: Lovell, Thornley.