SOMETIMES, you have to hold your hands up and say that you were beaten by the better team. That was certainly the case on Saturday at AFC Fylde’s magnificent Mill Farm stadium.

The surroundings were pretty opulent compared to most grounds in this league and Fylde were opulent on the pitch too. From the moment the ball flew past a helpless Adam Bartlett after eight minutes, it always felt like we were facing an uphill struggle.

While we got into some good positions, it always felt like we were having to play above and beyond our capabilities to just live with our well-funded hosts.

Clearly having done their homework, Fylde appeared to be using similar tactics to Bradford Park Avenue a few days earlier. They let us have the ball in the midfield and encouraged us to go long to Mark Beck.

However, the difference between Fylde and Bradford was when the ball was in and around our penalty area.

When Fylde lost possession up high up, they pressed us as though their lives depended upon it. It was fascinating to watch as they got top marks for both tactics and execution.

To try and judge where we are in comparison to Fylde would be unfair. While the other full-time outfits in this division tend to rely on having lots of teenagers playing for relatively little money, the Fylde model is all about signing the best players at whatever cost. Their quality told as did their superior fitness.

But for a man of the match performance from new goalkeeper Adam Bartlett, we could have been facing a more substantial defeat than the 4-1 reversal.

The final score was disappointing but given the ebb and flow of the game, it was understandable. I had been pretty pessimistic beforehand thinking it was a free game where a point would be unexpected but very welcome.

So, while not getting any points wasn’t a big problem, the red card and subsequent suspension of Kevin Burgess coupled with Liam Marrs and Josh Falkingham being removed due to apparent injuries could hinder us in coming games. The absence of those three players could be the real damage.

Speaking of real damage, once again, the reputation of the club was dragged through the mire on Saturday thanks to the mindless minority who rock up to games of note and seem hell bent on being obnoxious, moronic and generally quite unpleasant.

Sadly, the minority seems to have grown. At one end of the scale, there are the feral youths who get drunk, exchange small packages of what I can only assume is sugar and seem to have no concept of being a normal person.

Meanwhile, there are the middle-aged blokes, some of whom are old enough to be the feral youths’ granddads.

Goodness knows what horrible atrocity the stewards were guilty of but said group of men old enough to know better decided that spitting, throwing beer, yelling abuse and threatening physical violence was the obvious approach to rectify the situation.

Guys, this is 2017, not the ’70s and ’80s. Get a grip, stop being ridiculous and watch the game. If you can’t do that, get back on your bus and go somewhere else.

Should Fylde have stopped selling alcohol? Yes, of course they should. Any responsible landlord wouldn’t have served those clearly under the considerable influence of alcohol. However, we can’t use that as an excuse.

Instead, we need to root out these individuals and make sure that they can’t continue to bring our wonderful football club in to disrepute.