Looking to scale heights again

Fylde need to sharpen up their act considerably when they travel to Cambridge tomorrow, having slipped from top spot to third after successive defeats at the hands of Blaydon and Barking.

The 31-18 defeat at home to 14-man Barking was particularly worrying for Fylde as they were poor all round and seldom, if ever, looked capable of assuming control.

It was a real jolt to the system, and skipper Sam Beaumont wants the pain of such hurt to remain in the forefront of the players’ mind-set.

Reflecting on the way in which Barking beat them without a full complement of players, Beaumont said: “I have told the lads we should not forget about this and keep it in our minds for the rest of the season and remember how disappointed we felt at the way we performed.

“We weren’t at the races against Barking – and really it was the same against Blaydon

“We were poor round the park.

“We had a decent spell before and after half-time, but we made mistakes and Barking fully deserved their win. We can’t complain – we didn’t adapt to the conditions and made a lot of mistakes, too many handling errors.

“They pinned us back and took their chances well.”

Fylde are far from being in the throes of a crisis, but the two defeats have come as a reality check about how tough it will be to make a mark in National League One.

Beaumont said: “We are not worried that we have lost a couple because we always knew this league was going to be hard and that we would lose games. I think we have to be more concerned about the performance against Barking.

“It’s hard to think that two weeks earlier we had hammered Sedgley Park with ease – it just shows what can happen. If you don’t turn up for a game, then you get punished.”

Looking ahead to the trip to Cambridge, he said: “We have got no choice – we have to sort it out, pick our heads up and put on a performance down there.

“Perhaps we got a bit complacent with the start we made.

“We have played well in patches, though Sedgley Park was perhaps the best 80 minutes we have played so far.”