Manager Dave Challinor could not hide his delight after the Coasters reached the Vanarama National League North promotion final with a 2-1 aggregate victory over Harrogate Town.

Fylde will now face North Ferriby United in next Saturday’s final and Challinor was proud of his troops after a tense match yesterday.

“It was a very intense game and there wasn’t a massive amount of quality on show. Except for our goal which was incredible. Sam’s hit it perfectly and hopefully he has another in his locker for next weekend.

“It was always going to be a nervy game with so much to play for and they probably edged the first half. We let them back into the game straight after we scored and then we started to get a bit frustrated.

“Half time came at a good time for us because we just needed to calm people down a little. We dealt with them much better after the break and defensively we were outstanding. The momentum could have swung their way after the penalty miss but we coped well.

“We have got ourselves into the final now and it’s a one-off game that hopefully we can get the right result from. It was our objective at the start of the season and we are very close to it now.

“Ferriby turning it around in their semi doesn’t surprise me. If they got the first goal then they were right back in the game and that’s exactly what they did.

“They have beaten us twice this season so I suppose they will go into the game as favourites and full of confidence but we are better than the two results we have had against them. We respect what they do because they are very effective but we can give them something to worry about too.”