AFC Fylde 4 Bamber Bridge 1: Hosts Coasted it in FA Cup
The Coasters made it seven games unbeaten and earned a place in the third qualifying round of the FA Cup with victory over Bamber Bridge on Saturday.
Tom Whelan and George Wilson grabbed their first Coasters goals, along with Danny Ormerod and Luca Thomas, adding to their tallies for the season.
The Coasters came into the game with growing momentum after a 5-0 win away to Peterborough Sports last weekend, moving them up to second in National League North.
Fylde started at pace as Danny Mayor played Danny Ormerod through the left channel, he tried to play the ball to the back post towards Luca Thomas, but the cross was blocked.
Ormerod then had a second go at the cross and found Thomas, whose shot was well saved inside two minutes.
After that chance for Thomas early on, the game didn’t offer up a lot of opportunities until just before the half-hour mark, when Thomas found space on the right of the penalty area, cut inside to get past his defender brilliantly, before his shot was saved once again by Aidan Dowling.
Ten minutes before half-time, Fylde finally had their breakthrough. Thomas collected the ball in space once again on the right, and this time he played the ball square for Ormerod, who took a touch and struck towards goal, with Dowling getting a hand to the ball but unable to keep the effort out as the deadlock was broken.
Five minutes later, Fylde had a second as Tom Whelan received the ball and turned inside the penalty area before striking the ball into the bottom-left corner, leaving goalkeeper Dowling with no chance.
The barrage continued for the Coasters as Dowling punched a corner away under pressure, but only to Chris Merrie on the edge of the penalty area, who struck on the volley before Ormerod's flicked header found the back of the net, only to be ruled out by the offside flag.
The second half got off to a slow start, until Bamber Bridge got one back after 67 minutes when Churchman’s out-swinging corner was met by Simon Grand, whose header bounced perfectly for new signing Nathan Okome, and he nodded past Zac Jones.
Brig then started to gain momentum whilst in search of an equaliser. But as they pushed on, Wilson restored Fylde's two-goal advantage with a wonderful curled effort from the left side of the penalty area, which found the top corner with 15 minutes left to play.
Fylde added a fourth late on in a beautiful Mill Farm moment. Debutant Ryan Colclough struck towards goal, but as his shot was saved by Dowling, Thomas was on hand to smash home the rebound, sealing a deserved goal in a very tough week for the young winger.
That rounded off the action as Fylde sealed their place in the draw ahead of the third qualifying round in a fortnight's time.