AFC Fylde boss more interested in new winning run than Chorley 'jinx'

The festive derby double-header began with a 2-1 victory for the Magpies at Mill Farm on Boxing Day.

It was two months since Fylde's previous National League North defeat at Hereford and Murray's side went into the derby on the back of five successive league wins.

Fylde have struggled against West Lancashire rivals Chorley since dropping back into the sixth tier in 2020, winning only one of their five league meetings.

Chorley have won three successive Boxing Day derbies and took four points off the Coasters last season.

But head coach Murray was more concerned with his side's drop in standards than any derby hoodoo and is fully focused on the rematch.

The Fylde boss said: “I wanted to stay unbeaten for as long as we possibly could and there was no reason why the run could not go on.

“Well done to Chorley for getting the victory but, for me, we beat ourselves on Monday and certain aspects of our game weren't good enough.

“In football and in life you always get punched on the chin and it's all about how we react now.

“It's about who's going to stand up and start to put another run together.”

Ending the year seventh in the table certainly wasn't what title-chasing Fylde had hoped for, though they are only eight points behind leaders Darlington from five fewer games.

Indeed, Fylde would overtake all the teams above them by winning their games in hand, with the exception of fourth-placed Kings Lynn Town.

Murray added: “I'm disappointed we've lost our run but this is football and it's about how we bounce back.”

That was Fylde's first league game for over three weeks and the break enabled Murray to get injured players back into training, with forward Luke Charman returning to the starting line-up on Monday.

The Coasters boss said: “With Charms, we've been really wary and we've got to build him up properly.

“He's had a while out with a strange injury, so we couldn't push him too quickly and we had to watch his load, which is frustrating.

“But he will be in a better place for that and when Mo came on (substitute Mo Faal replaced Charman on 68 minutes), I thought he added to us and made a bit of a difference.”