High five for Fylde Ladies before Plate semi-final

Don’t miss the latest football news and gossip from leagues in England, Scotland and Europe with footballwire.co.ukFylde Ladies head to Luton Town for this weekend’s FA WPL Plate semi-final boosted by a five-star performance away at West Brom.

The Coasters travelled to the Midlands for the second successive Sunday, following their narrow 1-0 defeat at Derby County, and subjected West Brom to a fierce backlash in the Women’s Premier League.

Despite netting just once in an open first half, Fylde turned on the style after the break to come away with a stunning 5-0 victory.

Manager Conrad Prendergast welcomed goalkeeper Alex Brookes back into the starting line-up after a long spell out injured.

And the manager also handed the outstanding Emily Hollinshead (pictured) her first 90 minutes since signing from Sheffield United.

West Brom’s Natalie Murray and Nicole Dale both had efforts saved by goalkeeper Brookes during the early stages but it wasn’t long before Fylde started to dominate proceedings.

The deserved opener arrived shortly after the half-hour mark, when Lauren Davies slotted home and set Fylde on their way.

Fylde only had to wait four minutes after half-time for Leah Foster to double the visitors’ lead.

Midway through the second half, midfielder Hollie Kelsh made it 3-0 before two goals in the final five minutes from Sophie Charlton secured a convincing win.

Assistant manager Robert Curran said: “It was a fantastic performance. I’m especially pleased with Sophie Charlton for getting two goals but more importantly for the confidence we will gain from it.

“This weekend’s game is a big one against Luton Town Ladies in the semi-final of the Women’s FA Plate.

“A place in the final is up for grabs and we will do everything we can to ensure we are there.”

Double goalscorer Charlton was equally delighted with the result.

She said: “It was an evenly contested first half, which we just edged with Lauren scoring a great goal after good work from Leah Foster.

“We came out for the second half full of confidence and we created a lot of chances.

“Everybody worked well individually and as a team, and we need to take that forward into the semi-final against Luton on Sunday.”