Defensive frailties end unbeaten run

DEFENSIVE frailties ended Colwyn Bay's 15-match unbeaten league run as they lost 5-2 at AFC Fylde (Nov 14).
Two goals scored in added time at the end of the game gave Fylde a slightly flattering scoreline, but they were by far the better side in the second half when Colwyn Bay just didn't play at all.
Manager Neil Young blamed a strong wind which got up at half-time and was blowing straight into Colwyn Bay's faces in the second half.
"The wind changed the game. I thought we were in control in the first half apart from gifting them two silly goals, but in the second half we couldn't get out of our own half and the third goal killed us," he said.
"It is very difficult to get the ball down and play when you have such a strong wind right in your faces and because of that we just couldn't get going as an attacking force.
"The wind blew up from nowhere at half-time, but you need to be able to deal with situations like that and we didn't.
"In fact we didn't defend properly for their first three goals and that is what cost us the game.
"We also gave away a couple of soft goals last week and the number of goals we are conceding is a concern. I think we have already conceded nearly as many this season than in virtually my whole stint last season, and although we have tried a number of permutations defensively we are still not right."
Colwyn Bay got off to a terrible start by twice going behind in the opening 12 minutes - with Fylde's first goal coming just 122 seconds into the game.
Mike Barnes broke down the left and Chris Sanna, after starting to come to intercept the low cross, stopped and allowed the ball to run across him for Mark Wane to slide in and turn it into the net.
The Seagulls hit back with an equaliser on eight minutes when Neil Black went past full-back Sam Nightingale and crossed for Luke Denson to score with a header for the second match running.
But four minutes later Dave Challinor and Anthony Sheehan, who again played as central defensive partnership, failed to deal with a long ball down the middle which bounced between them and the dangerous Ritchie Allen raced clear to go round Sanna and score.
For the rest of the half Colwyn Bay dominated possession with some neat football on a pitch in surprisingly good condition considering the recent weather, and they deservedly equalised again on 29 minutes when Eddie Jebb put over a deep cross from near the corner flag and Ryan Williams ran in from beyond the far post to score.
The Bay deserved to be in front at half-time, and they would have been but for conceding those two soft goals. But in the second half they were never able to stretch the home defence, with Josh Macauley and Neil Black getting no service up front and Eddie Jebb, who had worked hard in the first half, becoming almost anonymous on the right.
The pace of Allen and Barnes started to prove too much of a handful and, with the strong wind behind them, Fylde exploited that with some well delivered long balls.
Their third goal on 65 minutes came from a corner which Colwyn Bay failed to clear and Allen easily went past a defender inside the area before pulling the ball back for Wane to toe-poke his second goal of the game.
The Bay brought on substitutes Tom McGill, Ian Sheridan and new signing Danny Grannon, and started to press for an equaliser, with Luke Denson and then Sheridan both missing out on good chances.
But as they committed more men forward, Fylde capitalised with two breakaway goals in added time.
On 91 minutes they broke from a Colwyn Bay set piece and a long ball sent Allen racing clear again to round Sanna and score his second, and four minutes into added time Allen broke again down the left and crossed low for Joe Booth to fire in number five.
The unbeaten run had to end some time, but it was disappointing to see it surrendered with such a lacklustre second half performance.
Personally I didn't feel playing Anthony Sheehan at the back worked on this occasion, and the Bay failed to create anything down the flanks in the second half - even though Fylde looked suspect down the their left and the Bay had exploited that well for both their first half goals.
The one consolation is that Skelmersdale and Halifax held each other to a 2-2 draw, but Colwyn Bay will have to be back on their game for next Saturday's clash with Lancaster City, who won again, and with a match at home to Chorley on Tuesday, could well be coming to Llanelian Road six points behind with four games in hand.
Colwyn Bay: Sanna, Denson, Corrigan (Grannon 70mins), Sheehan, Challinor, Williams (Sheridan 81mins), Jebb, Kelly, Macauley (McGill 70mins), Black, Graves. Subs not used: Clampitt and Brandreth..
Attendance 268.