Fylde youth football match of the week: Lytham Under-15s v Layton Lions

Despite the 9-1 scoreline was still a day to remember for Layton as they were presented with their trophy and medals before kick-off, having won phase one of the league competition.

Lytham were runners-up, also winning promotion, but they were the top dogs on Sunday at Park View playing fields, despite Layton scoring first and holding their own in the first half, which ended with the hosts narrowly ahead 2-1.

But star striker Jones, who scored both his side’s first-half goals, added two more to lead the way in the second as the floodgates opened.

Injury-hit Layton battled bravely until the end, with midfielder Drew Heywood’s outstanding efforts as emergency goalkeeper summing up the spirit of a side able to name only one substitute.

The Lions recorded a win and a draw in this season’s previous two clashes with Lytham and made a fine start as Anthoni Laur seized on a through ball to open the scoring.

But after Lytham man of the match Jones had turned the match around by half-time, Lytham recorded their first top-flight win in style.

There were two goals for Harrison Stott and the other scorers were Sam Breeze, Joe Sweeney and Ellis Mawdsley. All were good team goals.

Manager Nick Fielding was pleased to get the first win under his side’s belt.

He said: “This league is far tougher and it was good to get our first win, but the emphasis is on the players having a good time.

“It’s a good group of lads who have good camaraderie, and the main thing is that they enjoy playing.”

His Layton counterpart Roger Hughes thanked their hosts for their good sportsmanship during the pre-match presentation.

He said: “I was good to get a clap from the Lytham boys. We always have good games against them. We played really well but Lytham are a good side and we have so many injuries.

“We won all 10 games in phase one but we are out of our depth at this level.”

Besides outstanding keeper Drew, the Layton boss also praised the non-stop efforts of Jake Hopkinson up front. Four-goal skipper Jones was the Lytham man of the match after literally leading from the front.