Fylde Women 1 Huddersfield 5: Heaviest defeat of season for Coasters

Two goals in two minutes just past the half-hour put the visitors in control at Mill Farm and they added a third by half-time.

Fylde went five down with 25 minutes remaining but avoided further damage and pulled one back

Just three days after winning at Hull City by the only goal, Fylde started brightly but it wasn't until midway through the first half that Sasha Rowe's shot was saved.

Then at the other end, Ellie Etheridge kept out a close-range diving header by Katie Stanley.

Captain Stanley put the Terriers ahead on 31 minutes, running on to a ball over the top to fire home.

And 60 seconds later the lead was doubled as a quick counter-attack caught Fylde cold and Laura Elford finished calmly.

Skipper Stanley then went through one-on-one only for keeper Ellie Etheridge to get the better of her.

But the visitors still managed a third in the 43rd minute, when Elford curled her second into the top corner.

After the break Etheridge ssaved low to deny Brittany Sanderson but Huddersfield had their fourth on 53 minutes, when Elford smashed a shot on the rebound into the roof of the net to complete her hat-trick.

Hannah Forster had a Fylde shot saved but Town remained clinical at the other end, Paige Crossman making it 5-0 from a swift break.

Fylde got on the scoreboard through substitute Mel Bartley's back-post finish from Jess Holbrook's cross on 78 minutes

It could have been two for Fylde when Forster's cross deflected goalwards off a defender but Davies was alert to the danger.

Davies saved again from Hughes five minutes from time but Fylde couldn't close the gap further as they fell to their heaviest defeat of the season.

Fylde remain third in the FA Women's National Northern Premier League but Huddersfield are now only three points behind with a game in hand.

For Fylde it was a missed opportunity to overtake second-placed Derby County, who visit the Fylde coast on Sunday.

Fylde: Etheridge, Taylor, Forster, Fuller, Holbrook, Hollinshead (Hughes 46), Merrin, Redgrave (Bartley 70), Rowe (Carroll 46), Fryer (Pottinger 61), McCoy; Sub not used: Young.