AFC Fylde 5 Stratford Town 1: Dave Challinor's players Coast to FA Trophy success
Victory was achieved on an afternoon where adverse weather conditions caused havoc in the North West.
Dave Challinor made several changes to the side that lost to Dover Athletic last week with Russell Griffiths, Arlen Birch, Tom Brewitt, Lewis Montrose, Serhat Tasdemir and Danny Williams all starting.
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Hide AdThe 491 fans in attendance did not have to wait long for the opening goal of the afternoon when a routine collection for Town keeper Ross Etheridge turned into a horror show.
He dropped the ball into the path of Tasdemir, who played a one-two with Nick Haughton before finishing smartly into the bottom right corner.
Etheridge’s day then got worse as he was unable to hold Danny Rowe’s powerful free-kick and Danny Williams was on hand to slot the hosts into a two-goal lead inside 20 minutes.
It was a strong AFC Fylde team in action with talisman Rowe starting alongside playmaker Haughton in a front three.
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Hide AdThe two combined just before the interval, as Rowe was slid through one-one-one, keeping his composure to make the score 3-0.
The second half changed with the wind, as the game saw much fewer chances.
Stratford continued to push and won themselves a string of corners; however the howling wind wrote off any chance of these causing an impact.
Eventually Fylde found a fourth, as Tasdemir’s tidy control saw him wriggle free and curl in his second with six minutes to go.
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Hide AdThe Coasters had the ball in the back of the net for a fifth time five minutes later but Andy Bond’s rebounded effort was judged to be from an offside position.
Despite the scoreline Stratford kept going and, in the second minute of added time, they did net a consolation as defender Jordan Williams finished with a low shot after the ball was played back in the box.
That looked to be that until Danny Williams got his second and Fylde’s fifth, turning and slotting the ball into the bottom right corner to cap off a good afternoon for the on-loan Accrington Stanley man.
AFC Fylde: Griffiths, Birch, Brewitt, Byrne, Francis-Angol; Montrose, Croasdale (Kellermann 66), Williams; Tasdemir, Rowe (Gnahoua 57), Haughton (Bond 75) Not used: Tunnicliffe, Burke.
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Hide AdStratford Town: Etheridge, Cox, Wilson, Williams, Westwood; Fry, Skendi; Dias (Olnkanmi 76), Grocott, Carvahlo; Taylor. Not used: Oulton, Behan, McAteer, Fishwick.
Referee: Steven Copeland.
Attendance: 491.