City came away empty handed and were soundly beaten 4-0 by table toppers and free scoring AFC Fylde at Kellamergh Park.

City who were without Mike Symons and Tristan Dunkley with Nick Wright dropping to the bench were given a lesson in finishing in the first half. Steven Leslie made a surprise return to the Club but was unable to show the form he produced before departing the club last season.

It took eight minutes for the hosts to go in front. Richie Allen, Fyldes record goal scorer, received the ball just inside the City half and squeezed past Tyler Weir and Danny Jackman before receiving a kind deflection off George Williams which fell straight back into his path, he then cut inside and fired through the hands of keeper Nathan Vaughan from 20 yards.

Graham Hutchinson should have equalised two minutes later but headed Ellis Deeney’s free kick over the bar.

Then, in the 16th minute Fylde increased their lead. The City defence were unable to deal with an in swinging corner and full back Josh Langley reacted quickest to fire through the defenders into the roof of the net.

Fylde had further chances and it looked just a matter of time before they added another. The third goal came in the 38th minute when Michael Barnes picked the ball up deep on the right, skipping past Connor Gudger before cutting inside to the edge of the box and firing low into the right corner past the stranded Vaughan.

Jacob Rowe and David McDermott came on for Steven Leslie and Sean Geddes for the start of the second half and City managed to steady the ship. The best chance came from Tyler Weir who probed forward to unleash a drive towards the top right hand corner but Ben Hinchliffe produced a magnificent save to tip the ball over. The Coasters continued to push and nearly added a fourth when an outrageous chip from 30 yards out from Michael Potts hit the bar.

The fourth goal for Fylde finally came in the 83rd minute when Richie Allen scored his second of the game with a low drive from just inside the box and his 100th for the club.

It was no more than the table toppers deserved leaving City a week to concentrate on next weeks FA Cup game v Rugby Town.

Match Highlights via WCFCTV