No Coasting Through

JOHN Sheridan complimented the performance of AFC Fylde in their 2-0 loss to Argyle, praising their ability to cause problems for his side.

The Pilgrims’ first foray into this year’s competition may have seemed favourable on paper, as the Greens were drawn against a side competing two divisions lower than them. However, the visiting Coasters arrived at Home Park top full of confidence, playing fluid and attractive football under the management of Dave Challinor.

Argyle’s path to victory came in the form of two set-pieces, as Peter Hartley and Marvin Morgan converted corners from Ollie Norburn in the 27th and 70th minutes, respectively, but Fylde still caused problems for Sheridan’s side on a few occasions,

“I will give credit to Fylde: they had a real go and I knew they would,” said John.

“They have been winning games for two years. The manager is doing a great job there, they are playing good football and have one or two decent players, so full credit to them. Fylde gave us some problems.
 
“When we were 1-0 up, the lad (Michael Barnes) has gone through. We were taking a corner and he ends up making Luke (McCormick) make a save.

“They played really well, and I thought they deserved a goal. Obviously I am happy they did not, but I am disappointed in the way we played.”

Indeed, whilst Sheridan is pleased to have his side in the hat for the Second Round, he knows that they will have to produce better performances to progress any further.

He said: “We are on a good run and, again, it is a clean sheet, but I thought we were fortunate to do that today.

“It is always difficult when a team comes here and put men behind the ball, but sometimes you have got to be brave and make the right decisions, and still be prepared for the opposition to create chances.

“We just left ourselves open, even when we went 1-0 up. You get the goal which is good, but where we have been solid regarding not letting in goals or even chances, I thought we were very sloppy today.

“If we are given better opposition, they would take their chances. Fortunately for us, the chances Fylde had, they were not clinical with them, so they gave us a bit of a break.”