Development side involved in six goal thriller
Fleetwood Town’s development squad shared the spoils in a thrilling encounter with Burnley in the Final Third Development League on Thursday afternoon.Keano Deacon opened the scoring for Town midway through the first-half, which was swiftly cancelled out by their Burnley counterparts.
The Cod Army’s opponents retook the lead nine-minutes after the interval from the penalty spot, before goals from Eddie Dsane and Nathan Sheron turned the game on its head.
In a bitter pill to swallow for Fleetwood, Burnley levelled with four minutes to play as Town’s youngsters had to settle for a point in their opening fixture.
The first chance of the game at Gawthorpe Hall fell to the Clarets after five minutes played, however the hosts fired wide at the back-post.
Nathan Sheron then had to be on hand for Fleetwood, as the defender valiantly thwarted a Burnley effort on goal, with the East Lancashire outfit looking to open the scoring on home soil.
However, it would be Fleetwood who opened the scoring after 22 minutes, courtesy of Deacon who drilled in from the edge of the penalty area.
That lead was short lived, as five minutes later Burnley equalised with a well-placed finish from the right which beat Gogic in Town’s goal.
Both sides then had a flutter of chances to regain the advantage before the interval, firstly Gogic had to be on hand to keep Burnley out, before Gary Lavery and Eddie Dsane both missed openings.
As play resumed for the second-half, midfielder Conor Smith rifled a 20-yard effort which went just past the post.
Burnley would take the lead on 54 minutes, when a penalty-kick was awarded with Sheron bringing down his man and the subsequent penalty being dispatched.
Immediately after conceding, Fleetwood looked for a way back into proceedings, though Kieran Dunbar could only send his shot wide.
On the hour, Fleetwood found the goal in which they had craved, as Dsane slammed the ball into the back of the net for the men from the Fylde Coast following a goalmouth scramble.
The comeback was complete with 25 minutes of left thanks to Sheron’s close-range finish at the near post.
Deacon could have made it four for the visitors, when he showed sublime pace to beat his man before forcing the keeper into a low save.
Burnley piled on the pressure in the dying embers of the match, and found a late equaliser with 86 minutes played when the forward was played in on goal and slotted underneath Gogic.