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FC United pick up first point of the season against Fylde

FCUM vs Fylde - August 2013 - Highlights from FCUM TV on Vimeo.

FC United picked up our first point of the season with a goalless draw against AFC Fylde at Gigg Lane on Tuesday night in an early meeting of two of the favourites for promotion for the coming season. After Saturday’s disappointment at Worksop, the Reds had something to prove in the game and set out from the beginning to show their credentials and get their first point on the board. Early on United began smoothly, getting hold of the ball and passing well around the team, something which they had done so well in the first fixture before being undone by a couple of errors. With the teams so evenly matched, chances were few and far between in the first half and it was the visitors who had the best opportunity on the half hour mark when a corner wasn’t cleared out of the box and a low show from Joe Booth was cleared off the line by Lee Neville. This seemed to spur United on and in the 15 minutes before the interval they notched it up a gear and had several chances to get their first goal of the season. Matthew Wolfenden had had a quiet first half but a good link up with Michael Norton on the edge of the box saw Wolfenden get an effort on goal which was turned just wide by Fylde ‘keeper Ben Hinchcliffe. Obviously fired up by this, United came forward again with centre-back Tom Davies picking the ball up at the half way line and going on a meandering run through the Fylde defence before placing a shot towards the bottom corner which was just turned wide by Hinchcliffe. From the resulting corner Davies’ defensive partner Charlie Raglan obviously didn’t want to be outdone and rose well to get his head to the ball but saw his effort go just wide of the far post and the two teams went in level at the break. The second half followed the same style as the first with United having good amounts of possession and always looking comfortable on the ball. However, playing against a well organised team in Fylde, chances were always going to be few and far between. The added danger The Coasters brought into attack gave the game a cup tie feel and the match was finely poised throughout. Norton was brought down less than a yard outside the box, a challenge which saw the United forward go off injured minutes later. From the resulting free-kick, Jerome Wright almost scored as a deflection saw the ball wrong foot Hinchcliffe but the visiting goalkeeper just managed to hold on. United kept coming forward but found the opposition defence hard to break down and long range efforts from Oliver Banks and Tom Greaves, who replaced Norton, never really troubled the ‘keeper as United were left frustrated. A misplaced header by the Fylde defence saw the ball loop over to Greaves just inside the box, but having to wait for the ball to come down he had to take the chance first time and what could have been a good opportunity was safely held to deny United once more. The visitors did have a few chances of their own but never really troubled James Spencer in the United goal. The Reds will surely be the happier with their performance on the evening. So United are on the board with their first point, also claiming their first clean sheet and turning in yet another good performance which can only be built upon. With three games in a week coming up United will be looking to get a win under their belts and get the momentum going, which can hopefully push us on to a successful season. Website man of the match: Dean Stott – a few candidates who played well this evening, particularly the trio in central midfield, but the captain led by example on and off the ball. Report by Craig Phillips

First Posted ~ 21:44 Tue 20 Aug 2013
News ID ~ 5030
Last Updated ~ 01:52 Tue 16 Feb 2021