Cod Almighty | Match Report

by Sarah Barber

3 January 2026

Town lined up in a 4-1-4-1 formation as follows (right to left): Smith; Rodgers, Tharme, McJannet, Sweeney; Turi; Amaluzor, Green, Khouri, Vernam; Soonsup-Bell.

Apparently, dour former fishing towns in the north of England are in need of rebranding. Ours is that film of our best bits that plays before home games to tell everyone that we're good at trawling. Really? At Fleetwood, the 2025-6 rebrand involves a motivational poem, This is Our Town, written by the club's Supporter Liaison Officer (bearing a classic Lancashire name). But we share the same heritage, history, gulls, football colours and tastes in increasingly endangered species of deep-sea white fish.

Unlike the equivalent match last season in August, a fierce freezing wind whipped off the sea and whistled down the Wyre estuary. It parried sleet into players' faces. The pitch was uneven and the ball would bounce out of the ground if kicked from the goal at the home end. The conditions were the winner and made for a scrappy game of football.

First Half: Defending the bouncy end
Predictable Town had an opening five to ten minutes when you thought "ooh, nice: this is promising"; and then lost focus, started giving casual balls away and let in the opposition. Fortunately, Fleetwood could only manage the long punt that bounced awkwardly towards the net. It was two thirds of the way though the first half before they looked in any way threatening. In the meantime, there were several Town (half) chances: headers and skewed shots as Vernam tried to find Green or Soonsup-Bell.

Town's midfield and forward line can be a bit twiggy. You get nothing for pushes, nudges and barges these days (not in this game) and referees (especially this one) don't blow. Harrass and press, huff and puff a Town player and they'll crumble. With Soonsup-Bell on his own up front and Turi alone in midfield there were few opportunities to service attacks through the centre and the communication down the wing channels was suffereing delays in transmission. I blame weather-engineered interference. The back line looked to the skies, looked to each other: where was the ball? Fortunately, Jackson Smith was there to catch it, watch it bounce over the bye-line, or sometimes launch over the stands.

But Town were on top – more possession overall; more in the final third; cleaner – just not incisive. You knew that, didn't you? You didn't need to watch it on telly or for me to chill down to the bone to realise that.

Five minutes of stoppage time: 0-0.

Fleetwood know what they're doing. On came the sprinklers and with sub-zero temperatures, subs warming up were instead drenched with freezing water.

Second Half: It backfired
It continued in this way until the hour had passed, Fleetwood had a chance (hurrah: at last) and Town brought on the subs, fired up, energised and angered by being water-cannoned. Soounsup-Bell gave way to Kabia; Turi (who didn't have a bad game but hadn't been able to conjure control in the middle) was replaced by McEachran. Vernam whose line to Green was subject to interference was replaced by Walker and, five minutes later, Amaluzor on the right got a knock and came off in favour of Burns.

New feet and new ideas and Town were able to press further up the pitch and finally it reaped its reward. Walker played through to Burns who crossed from the right and Kabia got a head (or shoulder) to it, making Town the first team since August to beat our fishy cousins at home. 89 minutes: phew, relief, hysteria. Five more minutes of stoppage time.

Time to take stock on this first day of a new era. There are signs of revival. Form is returning: particularly Khouri who kept his feet and looked sharper. Soonsup-Bell didn't get great service, but got into good positions and showed some skill. Smith was a safe pair of hands. A lot of the passing looked sharper and more precise. There were still some howlers, head in hands moments and punts to nowhere (let's blame the wind again, shall we?). But a quiet star for Town was Jayden Sweeney: beaten only once as far as we could see.

New year: a time of hope and rebirth. Let's go for fish and chips.