Hard work pays off at last for Cod Army
FLEETWOOD’S first win in five is proof hard work pays off, according to boss Steven Pressley, as the Cod Army bounced back to winning ways against Bury.
Ashley Hunter and Bobby Grant netted second-half goals to lift Fleetwood back out of the bottom four at Highbury.
And Pressley insisted it was a richly-deserved success, hailing his players’ belief in the passing football he has encouraged since taking over.
“It’s a hugely welcome and a very much deserved three points,” he said.
“I’ve been saying for some time the players couldn’t be working harder but we need to turn performances into wins.
“We showed a great mentality, a great resilience and most importantly we won the game.
“I said at half-time we cannot continue to play in the manner that we are and work as hard as we’re doing and end up with nothing. I thought we showed a great mentality in the second half.
“We’re trying to play slightly differently but I think the players showed a lot of belief, a lot of courage and I’m really proud of them.”
Fleetwood enjoyed plenty of early chances, with the best falling to Dionatan Teixeira on ten minutes as Jimmy Ryan’s free-kick dropped perfectly for him in the area, but Nathan Cameron blocked the effort.
Nathan Pond went even closer on 20 minutes, after Daniel Bachmann dealt poorly with Ryan’s inswinging corner, but his looping header clipped the top of the bar.
Grant then headed wide from Amari’i Bell’s precise cross in first-half stoppage time as the hosts pushed hard for an opener.The deadlock was finally broken four minutes into the second half, when Hunter sprung the offside trap to race onto Antoni Sarcevic’s ball and slot in.
Fleetwood then sealed victory on 76 minutes, with Sarcevic again the provider, as Grant got the faintest touch to turn his menacing cross in.
And Bury boss David Flitcroft admitted his side – who have now lost their last seven away league games – need a shot of confidence to get back to winning ways.
“At nil-nil it looked like we were growing into the game,” he said.“We had a little bit of ascendency but the goal drained the confidence.
“Some of the blocks, especially in the first half, were immaculate but it doesn’t matter that we’ve put bodies on the line now because we’ve not protected the clean sheet.
“You could see that ‘here we go again’ moment and that’s something that does concern me. Whether it’s different personnel or work on the training ground, we’ll find the answers.”