Huddersfield Town 3 Fylde Women 3: Debut double for McCoy in opening-day thriller

Fylde twice led in this FA Women’s National Northern Premier encounter at Huddersfield’s Stafflex Arena but the new management team of Kim Turner and Danielle Young settled for a point.

The visitors made a flying start and Hannah Forster struck a post in the fourth minute, then former Stoke midfielder McCoye opened the scoring with screamer after 11 minutes.

Huddersfield equalised with a penalty on 17 minutes, after a foul by Beth Powney, then went in front from a cross from the right nine minutes later.

Fylde were level with two minutes, McCoy netting her second from a goalmouth scramble following a free-kick.

The visitors went in front again a minute into the second half, when Alex Taylor’s shot was saved and Beth Donoghue netted the rebound.

Another long-range goal levelled the scores again on 52 minutes and that’s how it remained, despite plenty more opportunities for both sides.

Co-manager Young told The Gazette: “Everyone was raring to go after such a long time without a competitive game and it was frightening at times how well the team played.

“It was real end-to-end stuff and it’s a shame we couldn’t get the winner but a point away from home is a good start. That game stands us in good stead in terms of how we want to play – fast football with good energy.”