Fleetwood Town’s Under-18s recently took part in a Fylde Coast derby in the PDL Cup and came away from the clash in Bamber Bridge as 1-0 victors on Tuesday afternoon.
The game was a slow starter as no real chances were created in the first 45 minutes, making a tense atmosphere even more present in the derby, with the only notable chance coming for Blackpool, which had to be cleared off the line by Raff Cirino.
Soon after the break though, Fleetwood had a big chance to take the lead when the ball was switched to Cirino out on the right – after he overlapped Dom Richmond – who played a low cross into the box, but no one was there to get the final touch.
The tension carried on building and in the 71st minute, it almost burst as the Seasiders had a good chance on the counter, but that was well defended by the ever-present figure of Theo Butterworth in a two-v-one situation.
Mark Yeates’ side seemed to be spurred on by this and managed to break the deadlock with 15 minutes to go as Mikey Lane pressured the Blackpool backline and nicked the ball off the centre-half before driving the ball towards goal and finishing well.
Heads had to stay clear at this point as Blackpool were ready to go full pelt on the attack, but his opened gaps up in the defence and substitute Hermann Daha had a chance to finish off the game in added time, after being fed in by Lane, but the shot went wide.
That was the final action of the game, and it was a joyous moment for the young Cods, who picked up their second straight win in the cup competition, with the first being a 4-0 win over Hull City at Poolfoot Farm.
Town XI: Bellizia (GK), Cirino, Hughes (C), Butterworth, Haughey, Jack Doherty, Richmond (Daha 80’), Namputu (Elmore 86’), Lane, Morrison (McLean 70’), Roberts.
Unused subs: Woodward (GK), Eccles.