A Fleetwood Town XI ran out 2-0 winners over sister club Waterford FC in a friendly match at Highbury Stadium.
A first-half double from former Waterford striker Ronan Coughlan against his old club earned Town a 2-0 victory on the night, as both sides battled through tough weather conditions on the Fylde Coast.
A lively start between the two sides saw Fleetwood have the better of the early goalmouth action. The Cods were led by a strike force of Kabongo Tshimanga and new signing Coughlan, and it was the latter who soon opened the scoring, firing in a quick-fire double against his old club.
For his first, the Irishman was able to exploit a pocket of space inside the Waterford defence, before calmly sliding into the far corner early in the first half. Moments later, Town’s number 33 headed in at the far post from a set piece to find his and Fleetwood’s second, finding breathing space between the two sides.
Both sides were building up some neat passages of play throughout the first half, but Town’s defence ensured Stephen McMullan had little to do at the other end heading into the break. The Cod Army made a double change during the interval, introducing both Harry Wilson and Harry Wright-Ocana onto the field of play.
The second half struggled to carry the same tempo as the first, but Waterford keeper Sam Sargeant was on hand to deny Coughlan his hat-trick from close range, reaching down low to deny the striker after a flowing Fleetwood move.
The away side struggled to create anything clear-cut throughout, with chances now at a premium for both sides in testing weather conditions on the Fylde Coast. Although not long after, they did come close to reducing the deficit through Dean McMenamy’s cheeky backheel that slipped just past the post.
As the clock began to wind down, Mikey Lane, Raff Cirino and Sam Glenfield, all earned themselves valuable minutes off the bench for Town. Tshimanga was next to be denied after seeing two close-range efforts blocked as the game entered its closing stages.
Both teams created a couple of half chances late on, but the scoreline remained 2-0 at Highbury thanks to Coughlan’s first-half brace that ultimately separated the two sides.
Town XI: McMullan (GK), Johnston (Wright-Ocana 46’), Pond, Tshimanga, Baggley, Holgate (Cirino 65’), White, Macadam (Glenfield 65’), Coughlan (Lane 65’), Brown (Wilson 46’), Johnson (C).
Unused subs: Donaghy (GK), Hoyle.
Blues XI: Sargeant (GK) (Connor 63’), Burke (Power 75’), O’Keeffe (C), McCormack (Cresswell 46’), Parsons (Trialist 63’), Leahy (Larkin 63’), Radkowski (Queally 63’), Pattisson (McMenamy 46’), Arubi, Akachukwu, Forde (McCourt 75’).
Unused subs: Healy (GK).