Despite a dominant first-half performance, AFC Mobile suffered a 2-1 loss to Pensacola FC on the road on Wednesday night.

Early in the first half, Zubair Taylor chipped a lovely ball over the Pensacola backline to Ronaldo Fortune, but Fortune could not quite get on the end of the ball and was easily collected by Pensacola’s Jules Dechert.

Mobile’s best chance came in the 29th minute when Fortune played a great ball to Soane Deminguet. Moments later, Clairy Kengeye made a run at the Pensacola defender at the top of the box and won the ball. Kengeye took a quick shot, but it was saved by Dechert.

“These games are very difficult. We knew that coming in. We wanted to play on the front foot, we wanted to apply our game model. Unfortunately, we didn’t take chances that we created in the first half and it put us in a difficult position in the second.” AFC Mobile head coach Steve Wieczorek said.

Pensacola scored early in the second half when Jordi Ramon headed the ball in off a Pensacola corner. The home team doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Prince Owusu scored on a Pensacola counter-attack.

In a fixture known for late dramatics, the Azaleas nearly pulled a goal back. However, Mario Gratzl’s shot was touched by Jackson Wheatley in an offside position, nullifying the goal.

Mobile cut the lead to one in the 89th minute when Iba Ndaw forcefully headed a ball downward off of a corner into the Pensacola net. However, the visitors could not find the net a second time, and the match ended 2-1.

AFC Mobile take on Port City FC on Saturday in Gulfport, Mississippi in the second leg of the Forgotten Coast Cup. AFC Mobile currently holds a 2-1 lead in the rivalry competition. The Cup is presented to the team with the better aggregate score between the two regular season matches between the teams.