AFC Fylde duo helped turn a possible defeat into victory
Craig Mahon praised the character of AFC Fylde after they overturned a two-goal deficit to beat Oxford City 3-2 in his first competitive game as head coach.
Mahon hailed the impact of substitutes Jon Ustabasi and Danny Mayor, who shared the goals in the National League North opener at Mill Farm last weekend.
The game left Mahon with mixed emotions and he told the club’s media team afterwards: “To be honest it wasn’t good enough. The tempo was slow, the quality wasn’t there and we looked lacklustre.
“Changes were made and the lads who came on turned it around. I couldn’t be prouder of them.
“The mindset to come back from two down is something a lot of teams don’t have.
“We’ll look at things we need to be better at but hopefully everyone here saw glimpses of what we are trying to do.”
As for Ustabasi and Mayor, Mahon added: “It was a tough decision not to play Jon. He showed exactly why I was wrong and was fantastic.
“He and Ethan (Mitchell) proved a point – they proved they want to play every game.
“When I watched Danny’s clips and stats, I said we need to get this fella in and he did exactly what we expected of him.
“He changed the game and gets an unbelievable winner. He only trained with us for an hour and a half and hopefully he’ll have an influence on everyone.”
The 34-year-old winger has spent the past two seasons with Fleetwood Town.
Leyland-born Mayor started his 17-year professional career with Preston North End and has made more than 400 EFL appearances, with long stints at Bury and Plymouth Argyle, whom he helped to the League One title in 2022/23.
He was one of three signings announced by the Coasters last Friday, along with full-backs Liam Brockbank and Kieran Coates.
AFC Fylde Women will start their season at Mill Farm this weekend, hosting West Didsbury and Chorlton in Sunday’s North West Premier opener (2pm).
Normally based at Kellamergh Park, Danny Murphy’s side hope for a winning start following relegation from the national tiers.