AFC Blackpool beaten away at league leaders Pilkington

The Mechanics started brightly, and Jacob Gregory came close early on with a shot from range that flew past the near post. 17 minutes in, Ben Duffield rattled the woodwork as he flicked on Gregory’s low cross, but the shot rebounded away from goal.

Gregory then had another effort, this time with his left foot, which dragged just past the post.

Against the run of play, the home side then broke down the right and a low cross to the back-post was tapped in by George Lomax. A frustrating blow for AFC, and minutes later Pilkington made it 2-0.

This time Lomax turned provider, playing another low cross to the back-post, for Adam Gilchrist to tap-in to give his side a half time lead.

The second half begun, and Blackpool came out with a fire in their bellies, and within three minutes, it was 2-1. Gregory’s long throw fell to Robbie Hulme who rifled a shot into the top-left corner from close range.

The match became scrappy for a while up until the 67th minute when Hulme met Conah Bishop’s cross with his head, but the shot went wide.

Two minutes later, Pilkington replied with their own header, this one finding the back of the net, making it harder for AFC to salvage anything from the game.

A corner was swung towards the far-post and nodded into the corner by Gaz Kenny.

And as AFC threw bodies forward, Pilkington counter-attacked, making it 4-1.

George Lomax scored his second of the game with a header from a cross.

Then, with minutes left to play, they got their fifth.

A scuffed shot fell to Callum Laird who found the bottom corner with hisshot.

Frustration for AFC, who played well for large parts of the game.