Alfreton Town 0 AFC Fylde 1: New boy makes an instant impact

It wasn’t the prettiest of afternoons but the Coasters made sure they got the job done with a really gritty performance, topped off by Delfouneso’s debut goal after 80 minutes.

Adam Murray made four changes to the side that secured victory over Darlington FC, with Dan Pike, Dan Malone and Joe Rowley replacing Connor Barrett, Danny Whitehead and Siya Ligendza, while Harry Davis came in for the suspended Alex Whitmore.

Following Tuesday’s postponement at Curzon Ashton, the Coasters were raring to go and it took just two minutes for them to register their first effort on target.

A long throw from Pike was flicked by Emeka Obi to Luke Charman, whose header at goal was well saved by Alfreton keeper George Willis.

With just 10 minutes on the clock, Fylde produced their second chance when Rowley turned on a sixpence and drove at goal.

He then found Charman inside the box, but his effort travelled inches wide of the target.

Despite the home team doing all they could to delay proceedings at every possible opportunity, the Coasters almost took the lead.

A long ball from Pierce Bird was nearly headed into the Alfreton goal by Danny Preston, the ball skidding just past the post as Willis scrambled back towards his line.

Alfreton did have the ball in the back of the net via Tom Denton, the towering forward heading in an Adam Lund long throw.

However, he was judged to have fouled Fylde keeper Chris Neal in the process with the referee awarding the Coasters a free-kick.

With Fylde having struggled to gain any momentum, the half drew to a close with Danny Philliskirk’s through ball finding the unmarked Pike.

He came agonisingly close to scoring, striking the post from a tight angle as the first half ended goalless.

There was an early chance for Alfreton following the restart as another long throw from Lund caused problems.

It found Yusifu Ceesay 12 yards from goal, who turned and hit a tame effort into the gloves of Neal.

Although a quiet half followed those opening few minutes, the Coasters did carry a threat when they pushed forward.

Sustained pressure eventually led to Nick Haughton finding space, enabling him to drop a shoulder and test Willis down to his right as the ball took a slight deflection before going out of play.

The introduction of Delfouneso with 20 minutes left saw Fylde continue to keep probing and building the pressure.

Ten minutes after the new arrival’s introduction, Rowley managed to progress down the flank before beating Preston for pace and sending a cross towards the back post.

That saw Delfouneso waiting to pounce as he headed into the back of the net and secured a huge three points for Murray’s men.

Alfreton Town: Willis, Teale, Preston, Cantrill, Smith, Wiley, Salam, Branson, Denton, Ceesay, Lund (Hobson 81). Subs not used: Askew, Dearle, Butterfield, Thewlis.

AFC Fylde: Neal, Obi, Davis, Bird (Cybulski 56), Conlan, Pike, Philliskirk, Malone (Whitehead 62), Haughton, Rowley, Charman (Delfouneso 70). Subs not used: Barrett, Hatfield.