National League side AFC Fylde and Gillingham meet for the first time at the Mill Farm on Saturday as the magic of the FA Cup entertains fans.
The home side got the better of Kidderminster in their final qualifying tie and AFC Fylde picked up a narrow 1-0 victory over Peterborough Sports in Saturday’s lunchtime meeting to end a run of four league matches without a win.
Andy Taylor’s men were in control for the majority of the contest but looked set to make do with a point before Danny Rowe opened the scoring in the 84th minute.
Consequently, the Coasters have now moved up into seventh place in the National League North table with 24 points from their 14 outings this term.
Next up for Fylde is the continuation of their journey in football’s oldest domestic cup competition where they have already seen off the threat of Farsley Celtic and Kidderminster in the preliminary stage.
Currently on a run of six wins and two draws in their most recent eight matches on home turf, Saturday’s hosts will fancy themselves to make it through to the FA Cup second round for the first time since 2019.
Gillingham were beaten on enemy territory for the second game in a row following a 1-0 defeat to Doncaster Rovers at the Eco-Power Stadium on Saturday.
Despite being under the cosh for large spells of the clash, Neil Harris’ men went into the interval on level terms before conceding a second-half goal to Harrison Biggins right on the hour mark.
Having picked up just three of the last 15 points available, the Gills sit 20th in the League Two standings and are now just a point clear of the relegation zone.
Off the back of a disappointing performance in the EFL Trophy, Saturday’s visitors will be keen to get their FA Cup journey off to a good start away from home where they have failed to win any of eight straight outings leading up to this weekend.
Gillingham will be without Shaun Williams, Ben Reeves and David Tutonda for the weekend, whilst Jordan Green will be given a late assessment to see if he is contention.
For Gills manager Neil Harris, it’s an opportunity to get back to winning ways and build some confidence.
Speaking ahead of the weekend, he said:
“I’ve not been to AFC Fylde before. I am looking forward to it. We know the challenges that lie in front of us.”
“We will prepare in the correct manner and the players will be ready at 3pm Saturday. We are playing against a good AFC Fylde side; the players know what to expect.”
“We want to be in the second round. Fylde is the next game, they will have a right go but my players should see it as an opportunity to build some collective form.”
“It’s a different sort of challenge for us. You can build momentum with cup games. I know it’s not easy being a Gillingham fan at the moment but it’s a club built on togetherness.”