Fylde Ladies earned a place in the next round of the FAWPL Plate with a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Leeds United LFC.

The Ladies avenged last week’s heartbreak in the Women’s FA Cup putting on a solid show at Kellamergh Park as they continued their pursuit of silverware.

Jenna Carroll pulled on the captain’s armband once again with Olivia Wild returning to the starting line-up, whilst Alys Hinchcliffe made her debut following her transfer from Aston Villa.

Following a delayed kick-off, Fylde started the game brightly with Tilly Wilkes and Hollie Kelsh both demonstrating their threat to Leeds’ defence early on, putting dangerous balls into the box.

Leeds themselves began to look dangerous when Laura Porrit broke through however the referee blew for offside.

Lauren Davies looked keen on getting her name on the scoresheet, firing numerous shots from distance but the break through just wouldn’t come.

A half of few clear cut chances was brought to a close and it took until the hour mark for either side to go close to an opener. Carroll controlled the ball on her chest in the box and fired home, however she was adjudged offside.

Substitute Laura Merrin was causing problems for the visitors following her introduction. Her teasing cross towards Sophie Charlton was plucked out of the air by Lauryn Colman, before another ball into the box found Hinchliffe however her strike was narrowly wide of the post.

Extra-time was looking increasingly likely as the clocked ticked down. Leeds turned up the pressure as full-time approached but Fylde stopper Rachel Darbyshire refused to be beaten.

Fylde’s Hollie Kelsh could have nicked it in the first half of extra time however she fired over with the goal at her mercy. 

Carroll’s header in the dying second was the only real chance of note before the referee called time on 120 minutes, with a dreaded penalty shootout needed to settle the tie.

However, Fylde need not have feared with Carroll, Charlton, Kelsh and Kennerley all converting their spot kicks to beat their Yorkshire counterparts 4-3. 

Speaking after the game, Fylde manager Conrad Prendergast, said: “Firstly, I’m thrilled to be in the draw for the next round of the plate. Overall, I was pleased with the performance. Individually we were much better, we were composed on the ball, made better decisions and they combined really well with each other.

“We made it difficult for ourselves by allowing the game to reach penalties but not through a want of trying. We had dubious goal disallowed and a great performance from the Leeds keeper prevented us winning the game inside 90 minutes. 

“Praise must go to the players, they worked tirelessly throughout and controlled the game for the full 120 minutes and thoroughly deserved the win.”

Match winner, Eve Kennerley, said: “We should have won the game in 90 minutes with the number of chances we had. It became a very frustrating game towards the end. 

“But every credit to all the players as we kept working hard even into extra time. 

“I had the pleasure of taking the fifth penalty to win us the game and get us through to the next round and thankfully I was successful and as a team we deserved the win.”