Warrington Rylands 1 AFC Fylde 1: Nick Haughton comes off bench to earn draw for Fylde

A second-half goal from Nick Haughton earned AFC Fylde a 1-1 draw at Warrington Rylands.
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Jim Bentley says AFC Fylde will go on the attack at Warrington

Jim Bentley made three changes to the side that started the previous weekend’s 1-0 defeat to Rochdale at Mill Farm, with Bobby Jones, Sam Osborne and Stephen Dobbie coming in for Chris Neal, Luke Conlan and Jordan Hulme, who all dropped to the bench.

The first real chance fell the way of the hosts after three minutes, as Dolan cut inside Luke Burke and curled a right-footed effort towards the far post but keeper Jones got across well to palm away.

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Action from Fylde's lively friendly in Warrington
Picture: AFC FYLDEAction from Fylde's lively friendly in Warrington
Picture: AFC FYLDE
Action from Fylde's lively friendly in Warrington Picture: AFC FYLDE

It didn’t take long for The Coasters to find their groove and Jack Sampson had the ball in the back of the net after eight minutes, only to see it disallowed for offside.

Some clever play by Dobbie worked the opening and Sampson flicked home a Tollitt cross, but he was adjudged to have made his run to the front post too early - the third disallowed goal for Sampson in as many games.

Tollitt was next to try his luck on 17 minutes. Osborne did well to pick out Joyce in the centre of the pitch and he then found Tollitt in a pocket of space, but his well-struck shot was just wide of McCall's post.

The Coasters began to show their attacking prowess and new signing Stephen Dobbie almost netted his first goal for the club, seeing his bending shot palmed away to safety.

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Both sides picked up the tempo towards the end of the first half and the dangerous Dobbie curled a shot just wide of the mark.

Neither side made a change for the second half, which started as lively as the first had.

Fylde made a host of changes throughout the half as goalscoring chances continued to present themselves for both sides.

First it was Sampson who was flagged offside before he could strike, then Dobbie saw his acrobatic volley saved.

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Jones had made a string of important stops to deny Dolan but could do nothing to prevent him curling home the opener.

A long hopeful ball forward found Dolan in space 18 yards from goal, and his superb touch and finish found the top corner.

Jim Bentley chose to take off the impressive Dobbie on the hour and replaced him with Haughton, who was back after illness.

And with 13 minutes remaining, Haughton found some room inside the area, went past two defenders after faking to shoot and produced a low drive that nestled into the bottom corner.

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Hulme, Whitmore and Conlan all went close to a winner for Fylde but the Blues’ backline held strong and the Coasters had to settle for a draw ahead of Tuesday's visit to Bamber Bridge.

Fylde: Jones, Burke, Obi, Whitmore (C), Shaw, Tollitt, Philliskirk, Joyce, Osborne, Dobbie, Sampson

Subs: Neal, Nolan, Conlan, Haughton, Hulme, Byrne, Gregson, Robinson.

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