AFC Fylde 0 Leyton Orient 1
Vanarama National League
Saturday 17th February
Report by Scott Lanza
Justin Edinburgh was not able to call upon Captain Jobi McAnuff again on Saturday; but he was able to name the same team that had taken a point against Tranmere last weekend. The Captain’s armband was handed again to George Elokobi who stepped up to the mark by putting his body on the line as well as marshalling his troops. It may not have been one for the purists, but the O’s are attempting to move out of relegation danger and so need to be able to grind out results as times. They duly did that by keeping AFC Fylde quiet with Macauley Bonne banging home a penalty to see the O’s leave the Mill Farm Sports Village with a workmanlike 1-0 victory.
AFC Fylde are going into 2018 firmly in the play-off chase and had beaten leaders Macclesfield Town 6-0 recently. Leading their frontline was the dangerous Danny Lowe who had scored 24 goals in all competitions this term. It was no surprise that he was to have the Coasters’ first effort early on which he slammed wide. The opening 5 minutes saw Elokobi and keeper Dean Brill both having to deal with deep crosses.
But the O’s rearguard eventually managed to halt Fylde’s forward march meaning that Fylde eventually found themselves unable to feed their forwards. At the same time Jay Lynch, the Fylde keeper, was a virtual spectator as Orient were unable to muster a single shot in the opening quarter of an hour. That was until Bonne was able to fire a shot that took a deflection before being cleared. Soon afterwards Bonne had another effort, reacting quickly to turn his marker and rifle a shot that was ultimately well wide of the target.
Fylde’s Andy Bond was able to deliver another dangerous cross into the O’s box midway through the half that Josh Coulson did well to knock away for a corner. He was under pressure from Henry Jones who would have been in a good position to have had a go had the O’s defender not cleared the danger.
Dan Holman’s free kick was headed away for a corner in the 30th minute and the resulting corner from James Brophy floated into the 6 yard box and had to be claimed under pressure by Lynch. It gave the O’s confidence to mount another attack when a ball skimmed off a Fylde player into Holman’s path, with the resulting shot whistling past Lynch but just clearing the wrong side of the crossbar. The Coasters had two attempts at the O’s via two free kicks that were delivered by Jones. The second one was from the left, and was the most dangerous of the two, as it darted close to the O’s goal; it needed only a touch, which no Fylde player was able to apply.
Bonne helped launch an O’s counter-attack in the 38th minute. His lay off to Josh Koroma momentarily say Fylde outnumbered, until Lynch blocked the cross shot and the hosts soon cleared their lines.
The O’s were then awarded a penalty in the 42nd minute when a clumsy challenge by Simon Grand brought down Holman. Bonne stepped up to score his 16th goal of the season, with a well taken penalty which zipped past Lynch, who despite diving the right way was helpless to keep Bonne’s sizzler out of the net.
Having taken the lead the O’s then had a bit of defending to do before the half was out. A Jones free kick was headed clear by Elokobi; then Brill was claiming a cross, before Karl Evans blew his whistle to bring the first half to an end.
Within the opening minute of Evans re-starting the game the hosts had created a chance to get themselves level. The Coasters worked the ball into Orient’s box resulting in Zaine Francis-Angol rifling off a shot that Brill blocked. The O’s stopper was then punching clear a corner; soon afterwards Rowe flashed a free kick just wide of the back post. Jack Muldoon had a header blocked and then cleared by Ebou Adams as the Coasters continued to dominate proceedings.
But just as in the first half, the O’s soon got back to grips with Fylde’s dangermen, however Bonne did have to step in to do some defensive duties, heading away Grand’s header off his own goal line. Grand then had to do some defending himself when he cleared away a deep cross by Brophy that was darting towards Holman.
Then on the hour Koroma picked up a loose ball and went on a long run that resulted in him putting over a cross which Lynch blocked with his legs. Soon afterwards a cross reached Holman but his header was straight at the Fylde keeper. The O’s defence continued to put in a shift, soaking up pressure with Coulson and Elokobi both putting in blocks. So tight was Orient’s defence that Brill didn’t have much to do as the half progressed.
In the 70th minute Brophy showed some nice skill as he got a ball under his control, burst down the left flank and then picked out Holman with a inch-perfect cross, which Holman miscued and a good opportunity to put the game to bed wasted. But Fylde were then to spurn a good chance themselves as Rowe could only rattle off a weak header straight at Brill. Matt Blinkhorn’s cross from the right tested Brill, who had to extend his body to make the catch.
Bonne went close himself with a header in the closing stages. But with 5 minutes of stoppage time awaiting the O’s then had to dig in as their hosts went looking for a last-ditch equaliser. A cross from Rowe was cleared by Coulson, who had to then put his body on the line again, as did Elokobi, as Fylde fired a number of shots in the final seconds that were all blocked by the O’s defence. When Mr. Evans finally brought the game to an end it was no wonder the O’s faithful who had made the long trip up north gave a mighty cheer.
The O’s are slowly swimming away from relegation waters; they could be in much safer waters if they can follow this win with a similar result at Chester on Tuesday.
AFC Fylde: Jay Lynch, Lewis Montrose, Zaine Francis-Angol, Jordan Tunnicliffe, Andy Bond (James Hardy 64’), Sam Finley (Capt), Danny Rowe, Jack Muldoon (Jonny Smith 64’), Simon Grand (Matt Blinkhorn 76’), Luke Burke, Henry Jones.
Leyton Orient: Dean Brill, Jake Caprice, Joe Widdowson, George Elokobi (Capt), Macualey Bonne, Josh Coulson, Josh Koroma (Alex Lawless 86’), Craig Clay, James Brophy, Dan Holman (Matt Harald 90+2’), Ebou Adams.
Scorer – Macauley Bonne (42’p)