Moors And Fylde Ready For The First Play-Off Semi-Final

For a club whose average crowds were in three figures last season, much has changed.

On the pitch as well as off it.

Don’t forget this is a club who spent most of last season at the foot of the National League table. A season on, they hope to go full circle.

Yes, they didn’t quite have enough to deny Leyton Orient the title but the runners up got to put their feet up in midweek and watch.

They tuned in to see it was AFC Fylde who they face next it will be a near 3,000 crowd watching. The match is live on BT Sport and the prize of Wembley Stadium is 90 minutes away.

“Fylde were excellent for big parts in the game,” said Tim Flowers.

“We had a few people up there watching the game - whoever we faced we knew how they play and there won’t be many surprises.

“It’s going to be a very tough game but we knew that whichever team went through.”

So it’s Fylde and not Harrogate following the Coasters at times impressive 3-1 win in Wednesday night’s Eliminator.

Moors’ improvement is there for all to see but so is Fylde, who have gone one stage further than last year.

"It was polar opposites from last season where we were at Boreham Wood and found ourselves 2-0 down after 20 minutes, we were 2-0 up in 15 minutes," manager Dave Challinor said.

"But even at 2-0, you know the next goal is going to be important because there can be big mental switches in games like this.

"We’d have loved to get the third in the first-half but we’ve done enough to win and that’s what these games are about."

And Challinor is fully aware of the threat the Moors pose on Saturday.

"There’s not much you can do between Wednesday and Saturday, but we know all about Solihull Moors," he said.

"We’ll put a plan in place but ultimately, it’s about the lads going and performing and hopefully getting the job done."