Fylde Ladies let a two-goal lead slip to draw 2-2 against high-flyers Huddersfield Town in the Women’s Premier League.

Sophie Charlton’s early double looked to have sealed the points for Fylde, however late strikes from Lucy Sowerby and Charley Evans earned a point for the second-placed Terriers.

Emily Hollinshead had the first sight of goal inside five minutes when she was played through by Leah Foster on the edge of the box, however her low strike skidded wide of the Huddersfield post.

Fylde continued pressing for the opener and it deservedly arrived on the quarter-hour. Lauren Davies whipped a cross deep into box where Charlton cushioned a header past Huddersfield stopper Laura Carter.

Before the visitors could even get their breath back, Charlton and Fylde doubled up. 

The Coasters forward won the ball on the edge of the box and clipped a fine effort over Carter to send the hosts in to a quick-fire two-goal lead.

Fylde winger Tilly Wilkes looked to make it three midway through the half when picked out inside the Terriers box, but last ditch defending prevented her from getting a clean strike away.

Laura Merrin quickly followed up on Wilkes’ failed attempt with a stinging drive from distance that was clawed out of the top corner by the busy Carter.

The second-half was a closely run affair with Coasters boss Conrad Prendergast making changes throughout the half in an attempt to hold their lead, however their resolve was broken on 70 minutes.

A corner pin-balled around the Fylde penalty area and was eventually tapped home by Lucy Sowerby after the hosts failed to clear.

And with just ten minutes to play, Huddersfield were level in almost identical circumstances. Fylde were once again caught on their heels from a corner, allowing Charley Evans to lash the ball past Brooks and secure a share of the spoils.

Manager Prendergast said: “It was a really positive first-half performance. I was very pleased with the players, they took on board everything that we discussed and practised in training on Tuesday night. It was almost perfect.

“It’s another point on the board for us, the disappointing part is that we should have taken all three, but a sloppy second half performance allowed Huddersfield back into the game. Conceding from two set-pieces highlights a really key area of improvement for us.

“Huddersfield were the better side during the second half, although that was partly down to ourselves and not building on our first-half showing.”