JimmyJeffers
Player Valuation: £70m
Those penalties were ace. Shame about the result thoughAFC Fylde vs Swansea City
F.A Cup Third Round Replay
11th January 2040
Fylde were not hitting the heights in the league and it created a subdued atmosphere for the visit of Swansea City in the F.A Cup. Dale Alexander was given a go at left back and youngster Warren Hodge was a surprise name on the team sheet behind David Hill. Fylde doing well keeping possession and they won a free-kick on near the touchline close to the box, Johnson swung the ball in, Barrett hit it towards goal, it looked like a bit of a scramble, Jonathan Currie got the last touch to take it over the line! Fylde go in front on 14 minutes! Peter Mitchell played for the free-kick on the edge of the Fylde box and Currie played into his hands conceding it, John Jones had a crack and scored from 20 yards to level for Swansea. Fylde got done again by the set-piece. The former Fylde left back John Jones haunts his old team. Hodge found Johnson on 51 minutes, Johnson went right to stretch the play to find Preece, Preece was optimistic with his cross but he found Bellairs at the back post and he headed across the keeper to make it 2-1! Bellairs needed that for his confidence! Warren Hodge was had a good game and looked calm on the ball, he got a standing ovation from his supporters on 60 minutes when he went off for Greene. John Jones went further up the pitch for Swansea in an attempt to create more chances down the left. Greene with the cut back to Currie who went for goal with his side footed effort but it floated just over the bar. Fylde just had to see this out now and not do anything stupid. The added time was up and the fans demanded the whistle, Ngom came forward for Swansea, Sean Jordan shepherd him wide and blocked the cross into the box but conceded the corner. John Jones put a good ball in and Russell headed over and the fans are delighted. The whistle is blown and Fylde are through to the Fourth Round! What a victory! Bytheway get his first as manager and The Coasters are still in the cup!
VB: Much better tonight. We worked very hard and were always on the front foot, we hasd three men around them every time and they didn't want to know. The midfield won it for us today and young Hodge should be proud of himself, he played the game just how we like and he had the confidence with some key passing. We have to fix the league form, it's not good right now. The cup is a nice distraction but the league is our bread and butter.
PLAYER RATINGS
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AFC Fylde vs Coventry City
14th January 2040
Vince Bytheway was trying to tighten up the squad inside the January transfer window with a reported loan deal for Aaron Hudson who is currently not in Derek McInnes plans at Burnley. After Hodge's performance against Swansea, he kept his place in the team playing behind Hill as Thomas stayed on the bench. Jonathan Currie and Tommy Smyth formed the midfield with Johnson on the bench. Currie sucked in Muirhead and then sprinted past him through the centre, the crowds roar went up and he passed forward for Hill inside the box and he slotted into the bottom right corner on 12 minutes! Great start for Fylde! Hill had the chance to double that lead ten minutes later after a through ball from Bellairs but the keeper done well to keep it out. Coventry hit back and Wells passed to Marsden, he held off Jordan and turned him to blast it into the top corner on 23 minutes. 7 minutes later Bellairs came forward under no pressure, passed the ball into thje box, Craddock done well to hold off his man to make it 2-1! Those through balls are causing problems for Coventry. The exact same happened again 5 minutes later, Bellairs forward to Craddock and he got his second! Fylde were showing real attacking intent and five minutes after half-time, Craddock returned the favour and crossed for Bellairs to knock in the header at the back post! Marsden had something to say and had the better of Jordan and Barrett at the backm powering past them knocking the ball down in front of himself and beating Breacker to make it 4-2. Smyth passed forward to Hodge who turned beautifully, passed into the box and Bellairs shoud have done better with the finish, putting it wide. Francis Johnson came on for Currie for the last 17 minutes. Leak-Barnes hit the free-kick towards goal for Coventry with 7 minutes to go and it deflected off the wall falling into the feet of Marsden who put it into the empty net sealing his hattrick. Bytheway looked nervous on the line as Coventry were fighting for a point. Jay Preece sent in a good free-kick towards the back post, Craddock chased it down and smashed it home to surely put this game beyond doubt! A hattrick for Craddock! Warren Hodge came close to scoring his first Fylde league goal when Johnson's ball to the far post found him and he hit the post on 87 minutes. It was a game full of goals and five minutes into stoppage time, Tom Smith put his chance away to make it 5-4. What a game it has been at Mill Farm!
VB: We won but we defended badly, Marsden embarrassed our defence today and we were too nice. We need a biut more aggression at the back but in the right way. We can't concede four goals like that again.
PLAYER RATINGS
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AFC Fylde vs Rochdale
EFL Trophy Northern Section Third Round
18th January 2040
Bytheway went with a strong side, deciding to choose a strong eleven for the EFL Trophy. As stated before the game, Bytheway will take all competitive matches seriously with the aim of going as far as the team can possibly go. Ollie Bellairs came forward on 5 minutes and passed to Hill who went for goal, the keeper got a hand to it knocking it on to the bar before it was cleared by Phillips. Hodge played a great ball down the right for Craddock who crossed low towards Currie but he caught it on the bounce and put it over the bar, unlucky. Stockton got free of the Fylde defence on 21 minutes but Breacker done enough to put him off and knocked his shot away. Rochdale went with two up front for the second half as Stockton was noticeably struggling on his own. Grant Thomas came on for the last half an hour replacing Ollie Bellairs on the left. Thomas gets involved straight away running at the defence and forcing a save from the goalkeeper. Rochdale done all they could to hang on and their travelling support will be pleased to take this tie to penalties.
Rochdale win the toss and choose to kick first....
=Grainger missed 0-0
=Thomas missed 0-0
=Stockton scored 1-0
=Greene missed 1-0
=Barron scored 2-0
=Smyth scored 2-1
=Brill scored 3-1
=Hill scored 3-2
=Phillips scored 4-2 Rochdale go through!
FINAL RESULT
PLAYER RATINGS
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