Bridge too far for Fylde

Kelham O’Hanlon rested a number of the Coasters’ first-teamers ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup second qualifying round tie with Blue Square Bet North side Gainsborough Trinity.

Goalkeeper Craig Unsworth, defenders Danny Monckton and Louis Lambeth, and midfielder Danny Penswick all started, while Mike Nolan and Ricardo Egidi came off the bench, the latter after only 22 minutes due to new signing Rob Turner going down with an Achilles injury which could sideline him for several weeks.

Despite the one-sided scoreline, it was a fairly even contest in which both sides played some good football.

Indeed, it was against the run of play that the visitors broke the deadlock six minutes before half-time through Alistair Waddecar.

Less than a minute had been played in the second half when John Cass’ cheeky back-heel found its way past Unsworth.

And the keeper had no chance on the hour, when Darren Green unleashed a 30-yard screamer to complete the scoring.

The Coasters had hoped to bounce back from Saturday’s 5-2 league defeat by Skelmersdale United and the game kicked off in a lively fashion.

Paul Jarvis controlled the left wing well for the home side, creating a number of chances. His best went inches wide after 24 minutes, with Brigg keeper Lee Dovey at full stretch.

But then a ball over the top from ex-Fylde man Alex Porter found the head of team-mate Waddecar and steered the ball over the stranded Unsworth to give the visitors the lead.

Straight from the kick-off in the second half, Porter found his way to the edge of Fylde’s box and squared the ball to Cass, who managed to get a heel on to the ball before Ricky Mercer could clear and it trickled past Unsworth into the goal.

After that, the Coasters couldn’t find a way through and it was Brig who controlled the play in midfield.

The win was sealed when Green saw Unsworth off his line and fired in off the underside of the crossbar.

O’Hanlon was happy to give the young lads a run-out but disappointed with the injury to Turner.

He explained: “I was always planning to do that no matter what the situation was. I wanted to use this competition to give the young lads some playing time.

“Unfortunately we picked up a bad injury, with Rob going off. I hope we’re wrong but it didn’t look great.”

Looking forward to Saturday’s game, O’Hanlon added: “Gainsborough are doing well at the moment, so they are a strong outfit. But we’ll be ready for them and they will certainly know they’ve been in a game by the end of it.”

Admission for Saturday’s 3pm kick-off is £7 (£5 concessions, £3 for under-16s), with the usual free shuttle bus to the ground from various pick-up points.

CHRISTOPHER PARK

AFC Fylde: Unsworth, Monckton (Beattie 46), Lambeth, McNiven, Mercer, Penswick, Booth (Nolan 69), Wilson, Turner (Egidi 22), Parker, Jarvis; not used: McDonald, Dodd.