Good performance from FTFC with a penalty the difference between the two sides.
A first half penalty for Borussia Dortmund gave the hosts a 1-0 victory over Fleetwood Town despite a spirited display from the Cod Army.The Germans scored their second penalty, their first saved by Chris Maxwell, to seal the win but Town will feel hard done by when Jamille Matt looked to be fouled to win Fleetwood a spot kick of their own.
Overall, it was a good performance from the League One side and another good workout in preparation for the new season in August.
Manager Graham Alexander named a 4-4-2 formation, with a diamond midfield. Youth product Keano Deacon started at the point of the midfield, with a strike force of Declan McManus and Jamille Matt.
Borussia Dortmund named three players in their squad that travelled with the first team to Asia earlier this summer.
Backed by a strong contingent from Lancashire, the Cod Army were right behind Fleetwood Town in their first of two matches on their pre-season tour of Germany.
Fleetwood made a bright start in the German sunshine and saw a lot of possession, with summer recruit Jimmy Ryan pulling a lot of strings in the heart of the midfield.
The first opportunity came in the third minute when an effort from a Cod Army trialist, the only one on the tour of Germany, was blocked by a black and yellow shirt.
As time ticked off, BVB gradually came into the match and Maxwell had to be alert on a couple of occasions to prevent the hosts from taking the lead.
However on the quarter hour mark, Fleetwood came within a whisker of taking a famous lead. Youngster Deacon, who impressed throughout, played a defence cutting pass to Declan McManus, only for the striker to have his shot palmed away by the goalkeeper.
Only two minutes later and the Scottish striker was at it again, this time stinging the palms of the opposition goalkeeper with a fierce drive from the edge of the ‘D’.
However, in the 25th minute, Dortmund were awarded a penalty kick when Nathan Pond was alleged to have committed a foul. The inform Maxwell was not to be beaten though with a fine save to prevent BVB from taking the lead.
The referee’s watch had only ticked five minutes more before there was drama in the other penalty box when Jamille Matt was pushed over by a Dortmund defender. What looked a blatant spot kick was waved away by the referee.
Town continued to put the pressure on as midfielder Antoni Sarcevic went in on goal in the 39th minute, again to be denied by Dortmund’s shot stopper.
In a half surrounded by penalties, Dortmund were awarded their second penalty of the match on the half time whistle. This time Maxwell was unable to keep the ball out of the net and it proved to be the decisive strike of the game.
Into the second half and Vamara Sanogo was introduced for Matt after a solid 45 minutes from the striker following a long spell out with injury.
The Frenchman made an immediate impact with a close range opportunity as Town pushed for a deserved equaliser.
Fleetwood continued to see a lot of the ball but were unable to break down a resilient German defence.
Dortmund themselves were having a look in on goal but Fleetwood’s defence stood strong in what was a tight second half.
With just under half an hour to play, Alexander made a number of changes to enable his subs to get minutes under their belts. Only Maxwell, Pond and the Trialist remained from the team that started the match.
Despite some positive play and excellent work rate, Fleetwood were unable to find an equalising goal as the game finished 1-0 to the hosts.
FTFC: Maxwell, McLaughlin, Pond, Jonsson, Bell, Ryan, Sarcevic, Deacon, Trialist, McManus, Matt. Subs: Moore, Forbes, Jordan, Andrew, Cartwright, Sanogo, Wright, Haughton, Sowerby.