REVERED ROWE IS A RECORD BREAKER
FC HALIFAX TOWN manager Billy Heath praised AFC Fylde’s “great” record-breaking goalscorer as Danny Rowe’s 44th league goal of the season extinguished the Shaymen’s faint hopes of catching the champions-elect.
Rowe’s 72nd-minute strike – which broke the National League North season record – proved to be the difference in a nervy, yet engaging, contest as the Coasters retained their six-point cushion on second-placed Kidderminster Harriers with three games remaining.
And although Heath’s men – who remain in third despite succumbing to their first defeat in six outings – kept the dangerman quiet for long periods, his smart turn and finish from the edge of the area found the bottom corner, leaving the Town boss to rue his side’s missed chances ahead of a Yorkshire derby at Harrogate Town on Monday.
Heath said: “He has been brilliant for them this season but they created very little through him.
“There was little link-up play but he has won them the game. It was a good swivel but he hasn’t hit it right. But when you’ve scored that many goals, you get that bit of luck.
“He is a great goalscorer and his goals have been a big part of their success.
“Anybody who will have watched the game would say that we deserved something from it. But we didn’t get anything.
“The first half was a tense affair and they, perhaps, had the upper hand but there wasn’t anything created apart from Josh MacDonald’s chance.
“We then dominated in the second half. We dominated for long, long periods. We created chances, we hit the post and then we conceded a scruffy goal.
“The lads did fantastic and we all know that we should
have got something from the game. But we haven’t so we move on to Harrogate.
“We have got to make sure that we get into the play-offs now. We are still in a good position.
“It would have been nice to have got something from the game just to keep the run going. We just need a couple of results but Harrogate away is going to be a tough game but we just need to make sure we perform like we did against Fylde.”
MacDonald was denied by the legs of Rhys Taylor when he was clean through and his second-half replacement, Matty Kosylo, struck the post after a dazzling solo run.
Town still created opportunities after Rowe’s headline-making moment but Fylde held on to survive the final six minutes, plus eight minutes of injury time, with ten men after Sam Finley was dismissed for two bookable offences.