By Ashley Houghton
Nantwich Town lost out in their second consecutive five-goal thriller after going down 3-2 at AFC Fylde.
And this was despite another spirited second-half performance as they came back from 3-0 down.
Kyle Wilson and Caspar Hughes gave Nantwich hope of a point after the Coasters had taken a 3-0 half-time lead.
Michael Barnes, Joe Booth and a Rodney McDonald own goal gave the hosts an unassailable advantage before the break.
Dabbers boss Jimmy Quinn made two changes to the side that won 2-1 against rivals Stafford Rangers in midweek with Joe Guest and Andy White replacing Lewis Short and Paul Brown.
The Dabbers, who were looking to extend their unbeaten away record to four games, got off to a nightmare start when Barnes found space behind Nantwich’s backline and hammered past Jonny Brain from six yards.
Sean Cooke twice went close as the visitors set about restoring the parity but his 20-yard strike was saved by Ben Hinchliffe.
Fylde’s lead was controversially doubled on 22 minutes as Jack Dorney was ruled to have been fouled in the penalty area by Brain and the referee pointed to the spot.
Booth saw his spot-kick saved by Brain before he followed up and slotted the rebound home.
The game was seemingly put to bed just after the half hour as Barnes broke down the left and crossed dangerously leaving McDonald in a difficult position and he deflected the ball into his own goal.
Nantwich improved vastly during the second period and the introduction of Josh Lane sparked life into the revival, causing problems down the right hand side Lane pulled back for Cooke who shot just wide.
Wilson gave the Dabbers a glimmer of hope on the hour when he volleyed Darren Moss’ cross home from eight yards.
The pressure never relented from the visitors and Cooke crossed for Wilson who volleyed just wide from a difficult angle ten minutes from time.
Hughes set up a nervy final few minutes for the hosts when he smashed Wilson’s cut-back into the top corner.
It wasn’t enough though as Nantwich rued a poor first-half and head into Saturday’s home game with Chorley hoping to prevent a third successive league defeat.
Nantwich: Brain, Dicker, Maguire, Hughes, Moss, McDonald, Cooke, White, Wilson, Beesley (Everall, 81), Guest (Lane, 45). Subs: Brown, Hudson, Short.
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