Doncaster 1 (F) 2 - 1 Fylde 1 (F)
Vitality Women's Conference North
Fylde started strongly with some aggressive play down the right, with great balls from Charlotte Thomson. However the team weren’t hitting the baseline and so they found it hard to execute in the D. Doncaster broke the press and were quick to attack in Fylde's defensive D.
After Lucy Woods made a great tackle and outletted the ball onto the right, Pru Lindsey picked up and made a great cross to Hattie Madden who made an effort to score, but a Doncaster player caught her stick. Hence Fylde were given a penalty flick in which Bo Madden scored giving Fylde the upper hand.
However, Doncaster were quick to react and shortly after they broke through the left to score a goal. Leaving the score 1–1 at half time.
In the second half Fylde struggled to execute in the attacking half and had multiple short corner opportunities, however they were defended strongly by Doncaster who managed to clear the ball out every time. A short corner was then awarded to Doncaster, where they scored using a drag flick.
Fylde were slow to react and started to force the ball into the D in the final minutes in the hope for a goal, however were unsuccessful. Final score 1-2.
Fylde 2 (F) 1 - 1 Oldham 1 (F)
North West Women's Division 1
We arrived and were ready to play,
On what was a very sunny day,
We had music blaring and people singing,
It was great to see no phones were ringing.
We chatted, planned and were ready to go,
Staying in position and being set to low,
We passed, we moved and were together as one,
We hoped their scoreline was going to be none.
The game started off with us in their ‘D’,
We wondered how this was going to be,
A battle to and fro from the middle to top,
When they gained possession we all had to drop.
We worked well together with a positive mind,
The girls checked on them and were so kind,
After some scrappy play by them,
We were able to repetitively get the ball to our Em.
Subs came on after injury one and two,
Somehow Oldham just got through,
A goal was scored and were down,
We were determined Oldham wouldn’t be wearing the crown.
With some fantastic linking play and disciplined attitude was a must,
Dawn, Sally R and Lucy ran so fast, causing a cloud of dust,
Smile after smile from Sally L today,
Wahoo a goal - Olivia to her and she slammed it away!
Great passing and moving as one,
We tried chance after chance to get the job done,
1-1 it stayed until the end,
More and more practice is helping us to blend.
Tight press once again helped us and was vital,
It was great to watch and made it delightful,
We played our way - we were brave, strong and started to gel,
We wish our injured/sick a fast recovery from being unwell.
We go again next week to try and win,
Just as it says on our fabulous Fylde tin!
Thank you to all who
watched us try,
Walking off the pitch again with our heads held high.
Pendle Forest 2 (F) 2 - 1 Fylde 3 (F)
North West Women's Division 2 North
Fylde set out to Pendle with hopes of coming back with 3 points, Pendle quickly pushed Fylde’s midfield and defence deftly moving the ball left to right and around the D. Fylde’s defence were caught on the back foot and Pendle capitalised successfully putting a ball on the skipper's foot. As she was the last man and behind the keeper a penalty stroke was given. Keeper Issy Slater handled the pressure well and did get a touch on the ball but unfortunately it was not enough to keep the ball out; 1-0 to Pendle.
Fylde came back with vigour, the midfield and forward line linking up well and Fylde began to cause Pendle concern. One such run of play saw a row of three short corners in close succession, one of which successfully had the ball in the back off with a beautiful strike from Scarlett Turnock deflected in by Georgie Hampson, score back to 1-1. A drop in concentration and defensive play from Fylde saw Pendle make it 2-1 before half time. The second half was an end to end game with both teams pressing for a goal. Megan Coar found the back of the net but unfortunately it was deemed to be hit outside the D and the score remained 2-1 to Pendle. The second half became tense and overall Fylde kept their composure seeing out four back to back short corners with the last taking place after the final whistle. An unfortunate result considering the determination and team work shown by the team but they look to pick themselves up and play Ulverston at Mill Farm next week. MOM: Georgie Hampson
Lancaster 2 (F) 4 - 4 Fylde 4 (F)
North West Women's Division 3 North (Central)
Fylde 4’s were away at Lancaster University to Lancaster's 2nd team.
2 goals were first conceded by short corners by the opposition but that didn’t phase the team as they came back fighting. Fylde’s first goal from a hit out from Jess Egan passing to Frankie Margerison who made an excellent run down the right wing to inject into the D for Grace Tomlinson to tap in from the post. Closely followed by an excellent shot at the top of the circle to score the second by Frankie Margerison.
The second half started at 2 goals a piece. The attacking line of Laura Knowles, Grace Tomlinson and Frankie Margerison were determined to get another goal which was successful due to Patsy Crowther catching a rebound from the goalkeeper's pads and pushing the ball into the left corner of the goal. Lancaster equalised after another short corner of which they were successful in scoring again at 3 -3. Fylde carried on pushing and making excellent passing and runs onto the ball finally allowing them to take the lead at 4-3 with Grace Tomlinson having a hard job to get it round the keeper and defenders but successfully finding a gap and scored. It was only until the final minutes where Lancaster scored an equalising goal from a final penalty corner.
Such a positive performance from the team who came away feeling proud and positive of the match and team work displayed. Having no goal keeper this weekend did not phase the girls at all, they showed grit and determination and worked excellently as a team. The final score 4-4 with a special mention to Jess Egan and Natalie Smith who made their debuts this week and Beth Wolstenholme for taking up the captain's position.
Garstang 3 (F) 4 - 2 Fylde 5 (F)
North West Women's Division 4 North (Central)
Fylde Ladies 5XI arrived at Garstang this week to glorious sunshine and the stunning backdrop of the highlands of the Trough of Bowland. Fran Loffler Thompson wasn’t quite so happy about the sun as she took up her, now regular, position as 5Xl goalie and realised the sun would be in her eyes for the first 35 minutes.
Fylde went out strong and the midfield of Liddy Eccles, Dawn Perruza, Abi Wensleydale, Louise Eastham showed exceptional effort and moved the ball quickly around the midfield as the game moved from end to end. Garstang got in a lucky deflection but Fylde were not disheartened. The front line of Kelly Wiseman, Soraya Rigby and Abbie Warbuton pressed repeatedly and won a short corner. Fran watched eagerly to see if her 5 minute pre-match intensive short corner preparation would pay off. Dawn injected, Abi received the ball and played the rehearsed wall pass to Debbie on top D, she slipped this behind the opposition first runner across to Soraya on the left who had first shot on goal, this was deflected and picked up by Dawn who was perfectly positioned on the post and expertly slipped it over the line and Fylde equalised.
With an even score line at half time, the captain's talk was nothing more than to ask the team to continue to work as hard as they had been during the first half, Fran pointed out that the opposition goalie would now have the sun in her eyes.
The second half saw Garstang come back with more energy and their attacking front line showed how skilled they were. They pressed repeatedly on the Fylde defence but Clare Thornhill, Tiana Moseley and Megan Eccles kept shutting them down and any shots on goal met with Fran’s heroic dives to deny them any goals. Fylde however started to tire and Garstang’s youth and fitness won them a further goal. Fylde’s mood remained high even when Garstang won another short corner. To their horror the injection went straight past the Garstang players and into the stick of Dawn who for a split second didn’t know what to do, when she snapped into action she passed it up to Debbie who drove it into the D with little opposition from Garstang and slipped it to Abbie but the experienced Garstang goalie denied her a goal.
Garstang pushed back after that faux pas and put their 4th and final goal in the back of the net. Did Fylde have any fuel in their tanks? Hell yes. They attacked back and Abbie made another drive down the right and put in a solid cross which was deflected onto Debbie McClelland’s stick on the left post and across the line it went.
Final score Garstang 3Xl 4 - 2 Fylde 5Xl, this might seem like a Fylde loss but captain Debbie McClelland said to her team after the match “There are many way to win and in my eyes that was a win”.
Fylde 6 (F) 2 - 0 Leyland & Chorley 2 (F)
North West Women's Division 5 North (Central)
Fylde Ladies 6th Team hosted Leyland and Chorley 2’s for a late match at Mill Farm. The team got off to a great start, quickly finding themselves in their attacking D, but Leyland and Chorley held strong and were able to clear them out. This did not deter the team however and they were able to keep their attacking momentum up, dominating the play. New player Evie Finnegan worked well in the mid-field, blocking Leyland and Chorley attacks and distributing the ball out to the sides. Katie Sloane made some great runs down the right side and with Laura Arts breaking up the defence, got the ball through to Georgia Nichols, who managed to work the ball around the keeper, giving Fylde the lead. The team worked hard together but Leyland and Chorley made a break through, keeper Dani Howarth stepped up, deftly clearing the ball out to the side but another attack resulted in a penalty corner. The Fylde defence were ready and quickly cleared this.
At half time, a quick chat around positioning helped to improve the form and Fylde continued on the attack, winning a few short corners, unfortunately, they couldn’t quite turn any into a goal but did keep a high press with Katie Leil working hard in the midfield to keep possession, feeding the ball out to give Fylde opportunity to push forward, which paid off when Laura Arts was able to slip the ball past the keeper, giving Fylde a 2-0 lead. Leyland and Chorley kept fighting, making some very convincing runs into Fylde’s defensive D but a calm Fylde defence did not allow them to make anything of this with Holly Twose and Tiana Moseley clearing the ball out wide. The team worked hard and were able to hold tight until the final whistle blew. Final score Fylde 2 - 0 Leyland and Chorley.
Windermere 1 (M) 4 - 1 Fylde (M)
North West Men's Division 1
The Men’s 1s took a depleted side away to high flying Windermere on the weekend with the hope of trying to turn their recent fortunes around, unfortuantely it wasn’t to be. A decent start to the first half saw a couple of Fylde half chances for Jamie Oakes, Simon Holt and Ryan Nicholls go begging, before an aerial ball over the back of the defensive Fylde line allowed a Windermere counter and opener, quickly followed by a second with Fylde’s heads down. Fylde did come back into the game and fought to the half some good interlinking play at the back between Ian Swaine, Alex Brandwood and Harry Gordon did manage to get Chris Walker and Duke Jones away a couple of times but with no end result. 2-0 at HT
The second half, Fylde saw another two goals come from their Cumbrian opponents with some confusion in the backline. Adam Ball tried his best to link up with an industrious Simon Major to get Fylde back into the game, but again to no avail. Fylde did get a goal back in the dying minutes, a penalty corner saved by the logging goalkeeper ricocheted to skipper Jamie Oakes who flicked the ball nicely into the side of the goal for 4-1, his 7th league goal of the season. Fylde’s fight back was curtailed when Swaine was given a yellow with ten to go for dissent, and the game fizzled out from that point.
Fylde host Keswick next week at Mill Farm, with the need for a momentum shift the priority.
Fylde 2 (M) 2 - 9 Keswick 2 (M)
North West Men's Division 3 North
With a clear sky and a blinding morning sun across half the pitch, Fylde sprang for an early warmup with a slightly modified 2s team. Gaz Sym joined the midfield due to a timings clash for the 1s game, and at less than 24 hours notice Luke Whitlow stepped in to resolve a goalkeeper-shaped hole in the team sheet.
A hotly contested first half left the score at 3-2 to the visitors, an immaculate stop from Luke Hitchen (who had a grand total of ten minutes practice before the game) setting up a drag flick from Gaz Sym. A short while later another short corner resulted in a scuffle in the dee and a reverse stick from Gaz to secure what would be Fylde's only goals.
After half time a quick goal was scored by Keswick on a break down the centre, after which the Fylde cohesion deteriorated, heads went down, and the game was sealed.
Man of the Match: Luke Hitchen
Fylde 3 (M) 3 - 1 Kendal 2 (M)
North West Men's Division 4 North Fylde Men’s 3’s celebrated their first win of the season at home against the team 4th in the league and who travelled with a squad of 15 players, Kendal 2’s. It was helped by a combination of Rob Pasqualino returning from injury, an impressive debut from Philip Allen, and a man of the match performance from young James Dobson on the right wing. From the off, the distribution skills of Rob Pasqualino, returning from injury for his first game of the season, made a telling difference. He was able to link up with Philip Allen and Oliver Adewale, both making their debuts in the 3rd team albeit from different ends of the age spectrum, Adam Bate, James Dobson and Nigel Sadler, making a dynamic attacking force. Fylde scored first from Nigel Sadler after a ball was crossed into the D from the left wing. However it wasn't long before Kendal equalised when one of their forwards chased a ball before it went over the bye line, crossed it into the D, and the bounce eluded both the goalkeeper and lone defender, leaving a player unmarked at the back post. Fylde started the second half with energy, attacking on both wings. From a short corner, Rob Pasqualino struck directly at the goalkeeper, who half saved it, but the ball stayed between his legs and Philip Allen reacted quickest striking the ball into the goal. Kendal had their chances, but Cameron McIntyre made some crucial saves as goalkeeper, and the defensive line looked in control, putting their bodies on the line as usual, with Craig Tilley the unlucky one this week after an opposition stick struck his shins, resulting in him dropping down in agony temporarily. Fylde produced some great passing moves, and finally looked a fully functioning team, after what's been a disappointing start to the season. Fylde's third goal was a classic, counter-attacking with a searing run from James Dobson down the right wing, beating a couple of players, before playing it to Nigel Sadler near the bye line in the D, who passed it back. Unfortunately James missed it, but Philip Allen was on hand at the top of the D to shoot hard and low, giving the Kendal keeper no chance. There's even video evidence of this superb goal.
Fylde finished 3-1 winners, and hope they can now turn around their season.