Town claim another point in feisty draw with Fylde (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Town claim another point in feisty draw with Fylde

6:03pm Monday 27th August 2012 in Sport By Scott Kirk, Reporter

Kendal Town 2, AFC Fylde 2

 

Evo-Stik Premier Division

KENDAL Town picked up another point as they drew 2-2 with AFC Fylde in a ferocious encounter at Parkside Road which included a fight just before half-time.

When Kendal skipper Marc Joseph and Fylde striker James Dean collided on the stroke of half-time an ugly brawl was sparked, which saw Kendal keeper Craig Dootson sent off when he retaliated to being punched in the face by Harry Winter, who was also given an early bath by referee Paul Hodgkinson. Dean and Joseph were both shown yellow cards. Tempers were not helped when Josh Kenworthy was taken out in the box for what looked like a sure-fire penalty after he had rounded keeper Ben Hinchcliffe just seconds before the confrontation. The brawl mirrored the horrendous conditions at Parkside Road, with strong wind and rain causing problems all afternoon. But Fylde started better and they took the lead on 10 minutes after a mix-up between Kendal's Jack Duggan and Dootson. The centre half tried to win the ball back off Dean but he brought the striker down in the box, and Joe Booth sent the keeper the wrong way to give Fylde first blood. Town equalised against the run of play in the 23rd minute when Kevin Leadbetter played a teasing free kick into the box which Duggan beat keeper Hinchcliffe to in the air. Joseph was first to the drop-down and he rifled his shot past a ruck of players. The goal galvanised the Black and Whites and five minutes later Alex Taylor put Kendal into the lead. Danny Wisdom crossed a great ball from the left and Kenworthy flicked his header against the post. But the ball rebounded straight into the path of Taylor who could not miss the empty net from two yards out. Left back Paul Alexander was asked to deputise in goal for the second half as Town had no recognised keeper on the bench, and he did a sterling job between the sticks, getting down low to save former Kendal man Adam Farrell's free kick with just a minute to go. But he was powerless to prevent AFC Fylde from levelling in the 51st minute when Matty Hughes buried a free header into the bottom right corner of the net from a set-piece. Duggan sneaked in at the back post to head a Joseph free kick over the bar five minutes later but Fylde pressed on and seemed to cope better with the extra space offered through both sides being a player down. Paul Jarvis had a good game on the left hand side and he set up Michael Barnes on the edge of the area, whose shot was well saved by the legs of Alexander. Farrell also couldn't quite divert Jarvis's ball in with the last kick of the game, so both sides came away with a point that means Kendal are still searching for their first win of the season. Kendal Town: Craig Dootson, Rory Winters, Danny Wisdom, Jack Duggan, Marc Joseph (c), Liam Wynn, Alex Randell, Alex Taylor, Josh Kenworthy, Danny Williams, Kevin Leadbetter.

Subs: Paul Alexander for Kenworthy (45), Ben Fishwick for Randell (76)

Subs not used: Scott Harries, Jordan Tucker, Naim El-Harrati

AFC Fylde: Hinchcliffe, Jarvis, Sumner, Hughes, Steel (c) (Doughty 65), Barnes, Booth, Winter, Dean, Barnes (Dorney 82), McCarthy (Farrell 65).

Subs not used: Carden, McDonald.

Key man: Alex Taylor - Linked play between the midfield and striker Josh Kenworthy well in the first half, and worked very hard off the ball to pressure Fylde's centre backs into making mistakes

Goals

Town - Marc Joseph (23), Alex Taylor (28)

Fylde - Joe Booth pen (10), Matty Hughes (51)

Yellow cards

Town - Marc Joseph

Fylde - James Dean

Red cards

Town - Craig Dootson

Fylde - Harry Winter

Attendance: 200