Fleetwood Town 3 Town 0
Fleetwood Town: Alex Cairns, Conor McLaughlin, Amari'i Bell, Ashley Eastman, Nathan Pond (c), David Ball, Bobby Grant, Cian Bolger, George Glendon (Victor Nierennold 75), Kyle Dempsey (Jack Sowerby 82), Devante Cole ( Ashley Hunter 71)
Subs: Chris Neal, Eggert Jonsson, Aaron Amandi-Holloway, Ekpolo Godswill
Town: Mark Halstead, Mat Sadler, Ian Black (George Waring 68), Ivan Toney, Louis Dodds, Jim O'Brien (Antoni Sarcevic 84), Junior Brown, Jack Grimmer, Gary Deegan, AJ Leitch-Smith, Adam El-Abd ©
Subs: Jayson Leutwiler, Ryan McGivern, Olly Lancashire, Dom Smith, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake
Ref: G Salisbury
Assistants: B Gordon and A Clayton
Fourth Official: J Mainwaring
Attendance: 2,111
Paul Hurst makes two changes from the side that started against Sheffield United on Saturday with Ian Black coming in for the suspended Abu Ogogo while Mat Sadler comes in for Olly Lancashire who drops to the bench.
Town had a good break after 5 minutes when Black played the ball into Toney, he was upended but the ref was close by and waved play on as AJ had the ball, he looked to break into the box but off the ball Dodds had gone to ground in the box and play was stopped. After treatment from physio Chris Skitt it seemed Dodds had taken a blow to the nose, so paper was put up to stop the bleeding and change of shirts for Dodds.
Town were playing some nice football moving the ball quickly, Dodds was showing good movement and was willing to get the ball, me combined well with Black on two occasion to set-up Toney but on both occasions his shots were blocked by the Fleetwood defence.
At the other end there wasn't much from Fleetwood attacking wise but when they did get forward they looked dangerous, there was a worrying moment when David Ball got into space in the box, it looked dangerous but Sadler did well to come across and see the ball back to Halstead in the Town goal.
It was a bright attacking display from Town and they were moving the ball around well and quickly to create openings. When Town had the ball they were looking to move it quickly and this was highlighted by Black who pinged the ball cross field to Dodds, he took it down nicely then cut inside past his marker before curling in a shot towards the far corner but it was wide of the target.
At the other end Fleetwood were starting to see more of the ball around the Town box, but the visitors were defending well and in numbers when needed. A Fleetwood attack was defended well and Brown had the ball, he looked to get Town on the move but got his pass all wrong and it went to Bobby Grant in space, he took a touch before hitting in a good looking low shot but Halstead was down smartly to tip it around the post.
Fleetwood had a good chance on 35 minutes after Town failed to clear the ball, Cole managed to get the ball to put Ball in on goal but Jack Grimmer was alert and slide in for an import tackle to deny Ball, and Grimmer had to get it right or it might have been a penalty.
It was the home side who got their noses in front on 38 minutes after a break down the Town left saw Cole drive the ball across the face of goal, and there was McLaughlin coming inside to fire the ball home from close range to make it 1-0 to Fleetwood.
With half time approaching Town put on some good pressure, the ball was played around the Fleetwood box but Town were guilty of taking too many touches at time, the moved ended with Leitch-Smith getting to the byline and getting a cross to Toney who got a downward header in on goal but Cairns was equal to it with a good save.
Half-time: 1-0
After the restart Leitch-Smith managed to get in behind the Fleetwood defence and break into the box, he went to ground under a challenge from Pond but ref Salisbury was on the spot and saw nothing despite the shouts from the Town fans behind the goal.
Fleetwood grabbed a second goal on 52 minutes when the ball to the Town left saw McLaughlin get above to Brown and put the ball into the Town box, Halstead and hesitated and Ball pounced but Sadler kept his cool and came across to clear, but the ball was put back in and there was Ball to put he ball home for 2-0.
Town were still pushing and they were creating openings, a good passing move found the ball with Dodds on left in behind the defence, the angle was tight so he elected to drill it back across goal and it found Toney at the backpost, he held the ball looking for options and cut it back into the danger area but there was no on the spot to turn it home.
It was 3-0 to the home side on 72 minutes when the ball found David Ball on the edge of the box in space, he looked up and curled a lovely shot up and over into the far corner to add to Fleetwood's lead.
Town looked ragged at the end and there were chances for the home side but first Halstead made amends for a poor clearance with an important save at his nearpost, then moments later it looked again that Fleetwood might add to their lead but under pressure from Sadler Ball put his shot over the bar.
Full-time: 3-0