Fylde 1-0 Lonsdale
Josh Corringham’s second goal in as many games made sure that Fylde College took all three points against a determined Lonsdale side.
Before the game, Fylde were struck down with an injury to first choice striker Chris Brown, who failed a late fitness test due to a quadriceps injury which he sustained in last week’s game.
His replacement Andy Thurlwell almost got Fylde off to the perfect start after four minutes, but his well taken-goal was judge offside. Minutes later, Thurlwell was forced off with a hamstring injury which left Fylde with no recognised centre-forward.
Both teams fought hard, and there were plenty of strong tackles flying in which restricted the beginning of the first half to a series of long balls and long range efforts.
Lonsdale came close with a long range strike by Nico Nicolaides which just crept over the bar.
Towards the end of the first half, Fylde managed to get the ball down and play some nice passing football. This led to Fylde creating a host of chances before the end of the half.
The first of these chances came when the ball fell at the feet of Josh Corringham who could only manage to blaze his effort over the bar. Shortly after, Corringham turned creator with his ball into the box almost leading to an own goal by Lonsdale defender Scott Wilkinson.
Lonsdale had their best chance of the game in the 36th minute, when centre forward Connor Atherton tried an overhead kick from just outside the six yard box. His effort crashed into the crossbar.
Following this, Rowlands almost turned goalscorer when his shot from a near-impossible angle was heading in but headed off the line by Lonsdale skipper Chris Floodgate.
At the beginning of the second half, both sides knew that the game was there for the taking. As a result the tackles began to fly in from both sides. Eventually, the referee intervened and showed a yellow card to Lonsdale winger Idriss Dhabi for catching Lonsdale’s Sam Meachin with a clumsy tackle.
It was Lonsdale who had the first real chance of the half; a free header by Peter McCarthy forced Johnny Gittins into a smart save.
Despite Lonsdale having the majority of possession early in the second half, it was Fylde who scored the first goal of the game in the 62nd minute.
A long throw from the right hand side caused havoc in the Lonsdale penalty area, and after Lonsdale failed to clear the ball, it found its way to Corringham who lifted the ball into the top corner much to the delight of the Fylde supporters.
Fylde sought to wrap up the three points from then on; Kay had the chance to do so after some good work by Rowlands, but his resulting volley soared wide of the post.
Corringham shot just wide a few minutes later, then Kay almost rounded off some liquid football by Fylde as he drew the keeper into a good save.
In the dying embers of the game, Lonsdale almost snatched an equaliser when substitute Andy Ramshaw managed to squeeze past two Fylde defenders and get a shot on goal which forced Gittins into a fantastic save. Lonsdale kept coming, but some resolute defending by Fylde prevented the equaliser.
Lonsdale no doubt will feel hard done by after losing their last two games by a single goal. Some comfort can be taken nonetheless by the fact they have got arguably the two hardest games out of the way early on. It wouldn’t be a shock if they were to regain their title but as recent results show; they are going to have to do it the hard way.
As for Fylde, it was a championship winning performance; gritty, determined and they managed to pick up three points despite not playing at their best. Ben Collision’s side have shown great strength in depth and appear very committed.
