By Ryan Lea
A first-half strike from Danny Rowe was cancelled out late on by a Nathan Delfouneso who equalised in the last minute to take the victory away from the Coasters.
Fylde started the brighter side when in the second minute Neill Byrnes deflected shot was flicked wide by Danny Rowe. It didn’t take him much longer to find the target when in the fourth minute Danny Philliskirk gave the ball to Rowe on the edge of the area who cut inside and smashed his shot into the bottom left corner easily beating Blackpool keeper Mark Howard.
The Coasters continued to threaten with some great play down the left side from Francis-Angol and Cardle who look to be a promising left side combination.
Blackpool struggled to gain possession with the majority of the first 20 minutes played in their own half. It took until the 24th minute of the game for the Seasider’s to manage their first shot on target courtesy of a header which was well taken by Russell Griffiths.
In the 36th minute, Blackpool striker Joe Dodoo had his shot well saved by Griffiths, the ball fell to Armand Gnanduillet who looked certain to score, only to be denied by an unbelievable block by Francis-Angol.
New signing Joe Cardle was the games star man looking threatening from both sides. He whipped in a perfect ball to find James Hardy at the back post whose tame header was left by Blackpool defender Tilt and almost rolled into the net before Howard reacted and gathered the ball.
Fylde started the second half on top winning a freekick on the left side of the area. The angle was tight but that didn’t faze Danny Rowe whose effort crashed against the wall. The rebound fell kindly for a second attempt which he just dragged wide of the post.
Cardle continued to threaten, this time turning his man to deliver a brilliant ball into the path of the incoming Croasdale who headed just over.
The Seasiders managed to win a free-kick on the edge of the area after Joe Bunney found space and was taken down. Half Time substitute Chris Taylor stepped up, but his effort was headed out for a corner.
With 25 minutes to go Fylde looked the more likely to score. Philliskirk played a skilful ball through the legs of a Blackpool defender to find Francis-Angol in space. With no other options, the Antigua & Barbuda international decided to try his luck and smashed his shot just wide.
Ashley Hemmings who came on as a substitute to make his debut showed glimpses of what he can bring but the game began to fizzle out with both teams lacking creativity.
In the 89th minute Blackpool found themselves level much against the run of play when substitute Marc Bola found space down the left, he smashed the ball in and found Nathan Delfounseo who slotted home the equaliser which never looked likely.
AFC Fylde: Griffiths, Montrose (Bond), Francis-Angol, Byrne, Tunnicliffe, Hardy (Hemmings), Croasdale, Cardle (Tasdemir), Burke, Philliskirk (Trialist), Rowe (Trialist)
Subs not used: Lynch, Trialist, Trialist, Trialist, Hassall, Stanley, Gray, Leitch
Blackpool: Howard, Turton, Heneghan, Tilt, Bunney (Bola), Spearing, Thompson (O’Connor), McLaughlin (O’Sullivan), Dodoo (Pritchard), Delfouneso, Gnanduillet (Taylor)
Subs not used: Mafoumbi, Nottingham
