AFC Fylde's fighters earned their just rewards

Phillips’ Coasters halted a run of three defeats without scoring in the National League with last week’s 2-0 victory over bottom club Ebbsfleet United, following that with a 2-2 draw against Eastleigh on Saturday.

However, it needed a stoppage-time equaliser by Fylde substitute Danny Ormerod to rescue a point against the Spitfires.

Charlie Jolley had given Fylde the lead for the second match running, only for Eastleigh winger Tyrese Shade, a St Kitts and Nevis international on loan from Brentford, to hit back with a brace.

Phillips felt a point was the least his side deserved and told the club’s media team: “It’s always nice to score late on, whether it’s a winner or a goal to take a point.

“Generally it’s been us on the receiving end of that this season, so it was good to be able to celebrate it at the end.

“My overall feeling is one of frustration because we should have won the match.

“I thought we were very good throughout 90-plus minutes against a team with a lot of threats.

“They are very direct to the two lads up top but I thought we nullified them for the majority of the game.

“Ultimately we’ve probably shot ourselves in the foot with the two goals we’ve conceded and we got punished.”

The point leaves Fylde 18th, two points above the bottom four going into their final fixtures of the year at Solihull Moors this Saturday and at home to Rochdale on Boxing Day.

Whatever his side’s problems, Phillips insists attitude is not among them.

He added: ”I’ve only once questioned the players about not keeping on going to the end – that was the Altrincham game (a 5-0 defeat in October) – but since, they they’ve given me everything and you’ve seen that today.

“They were fighting and scrapping to the very last kick. We got our just rewards in the end because it would have been an injustice if we’d got nothing with the way we performed.

“On the back of a really hard game on Tuesday, I was after that energy again and they showed me that.”