AFC Fylde 0-2 Blackpool: Charlie Adam and Ryan Hardie watch on as Seasiders record first win of pre-season

Second half goals from Nathan Delfouneso and Adi Yussuf saw the Seasiders edge an entertaining encounter at Mill Farm.

Simon Grayson’s men came storming out of the traps in the opening period yet they had nothing to show for their dominance at the break.

Their pressure eventually told on the hour mark when Delfouneso headed Pool in front, scoring for the second year running in this friendly.

Fylde responded well and had opportunities of their own to level, but they were made to pay for their missed chances when new signing Adi Yussuf scored his first goal for the club, stabbing home from close range.

Incoming Rangers striker Ryan Hardie watched on from the stands ahead of his imminent move from Ibrox, while former Bloomfield Road favourite Charlie Adam was also keeping a keen eye on proceedings.

As the Pool fans belted out “there’s only one Simon Sadler”, the Seasiders almost made the perfect start after just two minutes.

Summer signing Ben Tollitt created some space for himself inside the Fylde box by turning inside his man before seeing his shot well blocked by Dan Lavercombe, who spread himself well.

The Seasiders continued their positive start, which saw them camped in and around Fylde’s box in the opening stages of the clash.

Matty Virtue had a penalty appeal waved away when he went sprawling in the box, before Nathan Delfouneso fired into the side netting after dispossessing Kyle Jameson just outside the penalty area.

Fylde’s first sight of goal came the way of Nick Haughton, who directed a low effort straight at Christoffer Mafoumbi from 20 yards after being laid off by Danny Rowe.

Pool again came close to breaking the deadlock through centre back Ryan Edwards, who headed narrowly over the bar from Jay Spearing’s back-post corner.

Jordan Thompson lifted himself off the floor to stand over a free-kick just 20 yards out from goal, only to blaze his strike well over the bar - almost clearing the stand. Charlie Adam, watching on from the stands, would have backed himself to find the target.

Edwards again went close with a drilled shot 12 yards out after the home side had failed to clear a Pool corner, only to see his effort hit teammate Delfouneso inside the six-yard box.

Delfouneso was again involved in the thick of the action when he dispossessed a Fylde player high up the pitch, as Pool had done on a number of occasions in the opening half.

But the forward missed the run of Spearing, instead opting to shoot but his curling 25-yard effort was tame and straight at Lavercombe.

Fylde came within a whisker of taking the lead a couple of moments later, Nick Haughton first seeing his shot charged down before Mafoumbi flew across goal to save Sheldon Green’s follow-up.

The Coasters were almost punished for that costly miss in the following attack, when Delfouneso hit a shot on the turn only to see his drive just miss the top corner.

Delfouneso, involved yet again, saw a close-range header cleared away from the goalmouth after Edwards had endured a similar fate.

With both sides making a raft of changes at the break, it wasn’t a huge surprise to see a lull in proceedings at the start of the second period.

That left the Pool fans to their own devices, belting out chants of “there's only one Charlie Adam", "Charlie's coming home" and "Charlie give us a wave".

The former Pool favourite, of course, responded to his adoring public, resulting in a further chant of “sign him up, sign him up”.

On the pitch, meanwhile, Fylde came inches away from taking the lead as Callum Grogan saw a low effort strike the inside of the post before rebounding straight to Mafoumbi.

It was a miss they would live to regret, as Delfouneso soon atoned for his first-half wastefulness by directing a clinical header into the bottom corner from Sullay Kaikai’s pinpoint cross.

Both sides made a raft of changes after the goal on the hourmark, the two line-ups looking unrecognisable to the ones that began the game.

Pool came close to adding a second through sub Yusifu Ceesay as they caught Fylde in possession on the edge of their own box, but the winger’s low drive whistled just past the post.

Former Seasider Mark Yeates produced a similar effort at the other end of the pitch, narrowly missing the bottom corner with sub keeper Jack Sims beaten.

Jordan Williams was then left unmarked at the back post but his header back across goal failed to trouble the Pool defence.

The same couldn’t be said for Fylde’s backline, who were left rooted to the spot when a ricochet fell kindly for Adi Yussuf, who made no mistake by stabbing home Pool’s second from close range.

With 10 minutes remaining, the home side wasted a chance to reduce the arrears when Yeates chipped up an inviting cross to Ryan Croasdale, but the midfielder could only head straight at Sims.

Dan Bradley then went close, stinging the palms of Sims with a low drive on the edge of the area, before Williams sent a header narrowly over the Pool bar.

TEAMS

AFC Fylde: Lavercombe, Burke, Whitmore, Jameson, Hemmings, Marveggio, Craigen, Haughton, Green, Kasylo, Rowe

Subs: Duxbury, N. Byrne, Brown, Croasdale, Philliskirk, Willoughby, McPartland, Bradley, Yeates, Williams, Birch, Grogan, Roberts, J. Byrne

Blackpool: Mafoumbi (Sims), Turton (Nottingham), Tilt (Anderton), Edwards (Shaw), Bola (Devitt), Spearing (Guy), Virtue (Pritchard), Tollitt (Feeney), Thompson (Kaikai), Delfouneso (Ceesay), Gnanduillet (Yussuf)

Subs not used: Boney, Roache, Jaaskelainen