Bedford Town 0 AFC Fylde 2: Comfortable afternoon for Coasters

​A first-half double, including Max Taylor's first goal of the campaign, sealed all three points for Craig Mahon's side.

The Coasters controlled the opening 45 minutes, giving Bedford very little possession at the New Eyrie.

Chris Merrie had an opening after just six minutes when George Wilson teed the midfielder up on the edge of the area, but Fylde's number six's effort was tipped over.

Luca Thomas then produced a moment of magic with a wonderful spin to get away from a Bedford defender before unleashing an effort which was well-tipped around the post by Ashmore.

But from the resulting corner, Fylde did hit the front. Tom Whelan's corner was flicked on by in-form Danny Ormerod, and Taylor was on hand at the back post to bundle in his first goal of the season.

Thomas then had his second opportunity and felt he could have earned his side a spot-kick following a mazy run which ended with him hitting the deck inside the Bedford area before the No.7 could pull the trigger.

Zac Jones was called into action just before the 20-minute mark with a rare Bedford opportunity, which saw him forced to get down low and turn a header around his post.

But as Fylde regained control of proceedings, they added a second midway through the half. Whelan delivered another wicked set-piece, which was headed home by Bedford defender Jago Godden, doubling the Coasters’ lead.

There was late controversy in the half as Edward Gyamfi closed down Jones' clearance in the final minute and looked to halve the deficit, but the referee pulled play back for a handball.

Thomas had the first real chance of the second half after beating his defender with a lovely drop of the shoulder before his curling effort fell just wide of the far post.

There was then a lack of goalmouth action for large parts of the half as Fylde managed the game well and limited the hosts to any clear-cut chances in front of goal.

There was, however, plenty for referee Thomas Wilson to be involved with a number of high challenges from Bedford players, resulting in deserved yellow cards and a fairly stop-start affair.

Changes came from the bench as Will Lancaster and Luke Hunter both claimed minutes as Fylde continued to look for the elusive third goal.

Hunter showed a glimpse of action after rolling his defender before his cross just flew past the arriving Thomas.

Ryan Colclough then joined the action with just over five minutes to play, replacing Ormerod on the left-hand side, before Zones was forced into a finger-tip save late on.

But Fylde kept an important clean sheet and returned to winning ways to close the gap on league leaders South Shields.