LATICS LET IT SLIP TO COASTERS
OLDHAM Athletic’s dire run of form continued as they crashed to a resurgent AFC Fylde side who took one almighty step towards securing their National League survival.
First-half goals from Nick Haughton, Adam Long and Ethan Mitchell put the Coasters in control before Dan Gardner gave the Latics hope with a goal back just before half-time.
But Micky Mellon’s men couldn’t capitalise further and after Mike Fondop was sent off for a foul on Mitchell, they were left staring at a sixth game without a win to further dent their playoff hopes.
“Football doesn’t lie,” Mellon told The NLP.
“It will tell everything you want to know, I’ve been involved enough football matches to realise that and so if you don’t take your chances or defend as poorly as we did today, then the fact is you’re not going to be good enough to get anything from the game.”
The warning signs of Oldham’s torment were there early on with a Haughton free-kick in the centre of the ‘D’ crashing off the bar.
And on nine minutes, they took the lead whenright-back Bryce Hosannah broke free through the centre, playing a pass right to Connor Barrett who smartly played in Haughton to the right of the area – the number 10 slotting nicely over Oldham keeper Matt Hudson.
If the first goal was curated, the second was comical. A corner from the right was wildly swung at by defending striker James Norwood at the front post, but his sliced clearance only went backwards, falling to Long who tapped in from two yards for his first ever Fylde goal.
And just after the half
hour, Haughton turned provider with a wonderful freekick whipped in from the right finding the free head of Mitchell, who arrowed his effort past Hudson.
Oldham, though, never let their heads drop and were handed a lifeline on the stroke of half-time when Gardner curled in from the edge of the area to offer some hope of a second-half comeback.
But, just on the hour, Fondop, who had only been on the field 14 minutes, was adjudged to have gone in late on Mitchell by referee Robert Massey-Ellis – his second red card of the season.
“The sending off is a disgrace,” Mellon added. “Fondop is cleaned out completely and has a nasty blow on his shin so I’m not sure what the decision making there was.
“But we have to learn. We have a long way to go to be where we want to be.”
In contrast, Fylde boss Chris Beech was in buoyant mood, adding: “We have to be really pleased with this afternoon, we have taken care of our own challenge, but there were more goals in that first half hour.
“We’ve gone from taking nine points from our first 15 games to hitting play-offs form at the right time, it’s another huge step to the top of that mountain and staying in this division.” ★★★★★