The return of league matches after Christmas for all but the Ladies 1's, including 3 games for the Ladies 2's.
Fylde 2 2-3 Alderley Edge 2
On Saturday 13th January, Fylde Ladies 2s played against Alderley Edge at home. After a fast paced start, Fylde found themselves 1-0 down within the first 7 minutes. Fylde progressed many times up the pitch, with Sally Livesey and EJ Dunkerley stretching the pitch with long fast balls to the forwards. As a result of one of these balls, during open play, Grace Tomlinson made a disguised pass to Valerie Versterre, who found Frankie Margerison on the post who skilfully deflected it in. It was now 1-1 with 18 minutes to go until half time. Emma Savage unfortunately recieved a green card, but was soon back on the pitch.
As the game progressed Fylde’s linked passes down the wing were imminent - these were made by midfielders such as Lucy Wane and Nat Smith. Fast paced balls got us well into the game resulting in great runs through the middle and out wide. However, Alderley Edge soon scored another making it 2-1. A player from Alderley Edge was given a green card when she tried to take on EJ, definitely a mistake! A short corner to Alderley Edge was given - our defence stood strong but Alderley Edge put the ball away at 35 minutes in. The score was now 3-1 to them at half time.
After a regroup we entered the second half and Fylde’s pressure soon paid off. Our determination and great defending kept the ball from reaching the back of our net for the rest of the game. Fylde attacked hard down the wing and through the middle, with runs from Amelia Hatton and Keira Tomes. At 41 minutes into the game, Emma Savage used her skills to win Fylde a short corner. As a result of this, Chelsea Atkinson slapped it in, scoring a great goal from the edge of the D. Both teams battled hard up to the last minute and the atmosphere was tense. Fylde stayed strong in play, fighting until the last minute. Multiple times the equaling goal was in reaching distance and Fylde kept fighting- keeping the ball in the other teams half.
The game finished with a final score of 3-2. We were disappointed to come away without any points as the team linked up well and created many opportunities throughout the game.
Congratulations to EJ Dunkerley and Michelle Longton, joint players of the match. EJ’s strong long passes and Michelle’s amazing saves stuck out throughout the game.
Fylde 3 1-5 Clitheroe Blackburn Northern 1
Clitheroe & Blackburn 1st team did the double over Fylde 3rd team on Saturday: same result, same goal difference, same Fylde stand-in goalkeeper, different team personalities!
Fylde 3’s started well in a closely fought first half. Emily Greenwood took the lead and it was 1-1 at half time. Coach Adrian encouraged his young talented side to stand firm against the older, well drilled opposition but mistakes were punished and heads went down. Four goals conceded in the second half did not reflect the complete picture but the learnings were there for all to see. This young team improves every time they play a more experienced opposition and successes will come!
The alarm bells are not ringing yet but Fylde 3’s need some wins to boost confidence and improve their league position.
Fylde 4 5-0 Clitheroe Blackburn Northern 3
After the disappointment of a frozen pitch last week, Fylde 4s were raring to go in the first game of 2024. When we arrived at Mill Farm, the opposition occupied our “usual” dug out and this left Fylde wondering if it was a bad omen.
Winning the toss allowed Fylde to get stuck straight in but CBN accepted the challenge and made it difficult the work the ball around. Undeterred, Melissa Johnson-Parker and Liz Johnson worked hard to create opportunities on the right hand side. This paired with support from Liddy Eccles gave Rosie Leil a shot on goal which resulted in the first goal. Much more of the play continued on the right with Issy Gut opening up width and Ellie Hope driving into the circle. Lucy Whiteside showed her skill by dribbling past a number of CBN’s experienced defenders to find Issy Gut who made it to goal.
A couple of short corners were well defended by CBN so the next goal came from Liz Johnson in open play, a well struck ball from the edge of the circle that we all heard hit the backboard.
Phil Hope led the half time talk, boosting our egos and telling us to keep doing what we were doing!
Fylde didn’t rest on their 3-0 lead and CBN continued to push their attack. Some well timed tackles from Megan Eccles and determined clearances from Lauren Perkin kept Fylde out of trouble. Both Fylde and CBN had chances at short corners but none of them resulted in a goal. Ellie Hope had a near miss, going wide of the far post. Rosie Leil had her sights on a hat trick and landed two more goals.
As the minutes counted down, CBN mounted a final attack which left keeper Sophie Slawson in a one on one, not even phased, she rushed out of the goal and kicked the ball to the hallway line, must to our defenders relief.
It turns out the “other” dug out omen was a complete fallacy and we will not fear this in future.
A deserved win for 4s this week, back to top of the table and an excellent start to the New Year.
Southport 2 3-4 Fylde 5
Ladies 5s had to wait until 4:30pm for their match against top of the table Southport this week. Fylde were not optimistic about the outcome as they hadn’t had much success this season and were firmly at the bottom of the table. Team talk in the car park and some Ibuprofen for captain Debbie McClelland, who had been playing and umpiring since 10am and the girls were raring to go. There was a buzz about the squad and Heather Appleyard, Dawn Perruzza and Louise Eastham had joined Debbie McClelland this week to add some age and maturity to the young team.
From the start Southport were attacking strong down the left and Fylde made the mistake of being pulled over. Crowding each other and unable to make used of interceptions. Encouragement and guidance from the side-line had the team back into position and making more attacking play. Fylde defence then got caught off guard and Southport played what seemed to be their only effective tactic and got a ball through to their goal hanging forward and found the back of the Fylde net.
This seemed to fire up the Fylde team, minutes later a hit out from the defence got a strong ball though to the midfield who masterfully worked it along the right up into the D and Sophia Meiling put away an equaliser for Fylde. Southport continued to get balls through Fylde’s midfield and attempt to finish but Philipa Hancock was at her best in goal with some tremendous saves and the old girls and the back with support for the dynamic and speedy Emily Finney and the and ninja like reflexes of Grace Lord, managed to keep the score 1-1 at half time. Team talk was all about the win, it was all about the defence in the middle stopping their balls getting through. The team were excited, driven and had more fire in their bellies than ever before.
The second half was nail bitting stuff. The right hand players Hermione Edwards, Megan Hartley-Smith and Louise Eastham started showing Southport what they are made of midfield pushing high, driving up the line and flooding the D. It’s wasn’t long before Hermione worked a brilliant drive up and along the back line dropping if up to the penalty spot so that Sophia Meiling could take Fylde into the lead. The crowd was going wild, the team were excited. Fylde continued to dominate the half with attacking play, Southport struggled to get balls through now and their strong midfield started to have to bring the balls in and pass more. One of which found the back of the net and Southport equalised.
It was still anyone’s game and Fylde midfield played high and hard, Megan and Olivia Hartley-Smith and Sophia Gough penetrating the D and making some brilliant passes and shots on goal themselves. One of which got to Louise Eastham and the sound of ball against wood took Fylde into the lead again. Southport fought back, their attacker confidently passing between them with big hits and another goal got through. 3-3.
14 minutes to go and everything to play for, the team still strong, still high, still applying pressure, still dominating. Olivia playing great balls to Sophia Meiling, Sara Tomlinson and Sophia Gough, making play to the left and finally Sophia Meiling turned her brace into a hat-trick and Fylde took the lead again.
The clock was stopped as a Southport player was struck with cramp. Debbie gathered her players and instructed them that we didn’t need goals, take no risks, midfield needed to stay back and defend hard. The team executed this perfectly. At one point we had 11 player in the defensive D. Southport didn’t have a chance.
When the final whistle blew the celebration was amazing. The team had been amazing. We always play as a team every goal is a team goal. But what a team they were this week.
Win as a team lose as a team.
Final score Southport 3- Fylde 4.
Chorley Phoenix 2 0-0 Fylde 6 Development
Another early 10am start in Bamber Bridge, Preston, another predominant adult opposition and another fine performance by our youngish Development Team! Strengthened by two experienced adult defenders, Debbie McClelland & Dawn Peruzza, and Julie Knowles covering midfield (to her surprise an attacking & defensive role!), our juniors gained in confidence as the game progressed. Player/Coach Fran Loffler-Thompson wisely decided not to enter the fray until the final 7mins, and instead instilled encouragement and guidance from the sideline.
Multiple goal attempts, solid tackles and splendid connecting play dazzled the coach and supporters. Claudia Jackson played her debut match, late call-up Jenay Gucver kept another clean sheet in goals, and the girls showed that they were no push over against the team currently second place in the table.
We go again on Sunday, in a re-arranged match which won’t be frozen-off this time, and with a full squad, expectations are high for a win!
Leyland & Chorley Development 6-1 Fylde Men
A slow start to the game with many players being slightly rusty after the Christmas break. An early chance on goal occurred when Nigel Sadler passed the ball across goal near the back post. Unfortunately Luke Hitchen who was standing by the back post had his eyes closed so the ball rolled off the pitch. However it wasn’t too long to wait after for the first goal where Phil Hope's cross from the side to Richard Clarke, who deflected it into the back of the net.
Leyland and Chorley kept looking to counter Fylde’s attack and after some sloppy Fylde defending, Leyland's overload found an equaliser to make the score 1-1. The half time team talk focused on going back to basics, passing the ball around with plenty of movement off the ball. This seemed to work as early in the second half, a pass from midfield to Luke, who took the ball and wide before a pass inside to Phil who slot the ball under the keeper to make it 2-1.
Fylde had the chance to extend their lead halfway through the 2nd half. This time with a short corner routine. An injection from Ollie Holmes to Phil Hope at the top of D was then continued with a shot on target by Hope, saved by the Leyland keeper and onto the post where Holmes was quick on the rebound to control the ball and then calmly slot it into the goal, or so he thought. The goal was disallowed due to the umpires' belief that the ball had firstly hit Holmes' foot before the goal was scored, much to the confusion of all Fylde players who could clearly see that despite Holmes' enormous frame, the ball was nowhere near his foot. Holmes was in disbelief, feeling robbed of his first goal of the season, whilst his teammates were in disbelief that he was able to control the ball and then score.
This seemed to rile Fylde with 4 goals coming in quick succession. Ollie Van Rijn popped the ball into the D to Richard Clarke to reverse pass to Phil who dinked it in pass the keeper. Moments later, Luke Hitchen threw an aerial into the D for Jay Mayne to run on to, dribbling past the Leyland defence and then putting the ball away. It wasn't long after that when Luke himself was on the scoresheet with a tap in at back post, quickly followed by Jay getting himself a second goal minutes later.
With only a few minutes left, Leyland pushed back hard, winning a couple of short corners. The second seeing one of their youngsters drag flick the ball only for Craig Tilley to deflect it high over the goal. In the final few seconds of the game a quick break saw Jay driving the ball with only the keeper left to pass but the final whistle blew before he made it into the D, robbing him of a potential hat-trick.
The game finished 6-1 in Fylde’s favour. Charlie Oliver was the Man of Match with an incredible display of movement, dribbling, passing and outstanding defending abilities.
Fylde 2 3-3 Brooklands-Poynton 2 (Sunday)
Beautiful brisk Sunday afternoon for the rearranged fixture. After an early Sunday message from Lisa Brown, Fylde knew exactly what to do! Fielding another strong team with a few new faces, a good warm up and determined to get a result they set up ready to go!
Unfortunately Alderley Edge had their own ideas to start strongly with an early goal straight through the middle of Fylde. Not put off by this small set back, Fylde made some excellent link play through Louisa Rogerson in centre mid and got the ball into the opposition’s D. Some determined work from Grace Tomlinson, Frankie Margerison and Emma Savidge winning short corners, unfortunately Fylde were unable to convert.
Some excellent hassling from Amelia Hatton winning the ball back high up the pitch providing more pressure on Alderley Edge’s D, linked nicely with Louisa and with some individual skill Louisa managed to pull back a goal! Fylde deserved the 1-1 at this stage.
Alderley Edge were proving to be an organised well drilled team linking a string of passes down their right and getting the ball into the D, Fylde gifted them their second with some questionable marking. Fylde had to gather themselves again to ensure their heads didn’t go down. Great encouragement from the spectators and a drive to show what they could do, Fylde pushed on with some excellent passing and switching of play round the back, finding the spaces and winning more short corners. A fab quick play from a 16 saw Sally Livesey linking with Olivia John-Haslam who narrowly missed the bottom left corner. Not put off by their failed chances Fylde squeezed in on Alderley Edge's back right corner, again with some fantastic individual skills Louisa Rogerson put the ball away which saw the team at half time 2-2.
The second half was end to end, and once again the crowd got behind the players. Lucy Wane and Amelia Hatton doing a fab job on the left again moving into space and finding the forwards in the 25, still nothing came of their chances. Then totally against the run of play Alderley Edge made a break in numbers down their left side, with a few clever passes they were in again, brilliant initial save by Michelle Longton but it fell to an attacker who put it in to make it 3-2.
Fylde needed to dig deep more than ever, they deserved something from the match after all their efforts and positivity! One last push to try and get a point, led by Sally Livesey and Natalie Smith on the right, Louisa found herself in the D again, and only she will know how she scored at that angle, fantastic play again.
Match finished 3-3 well deserved and fair point. Huge well done Fylde 2’s some great, positive skilful hockey by all!
Fylde 6 Development 5-1 Leyland & Chorley 2 (Sunday)
On Sunday afternoon, a strong squad of 16 played Leyland and Chorley 2’s with Bella Coupe-Carroll as our captain and Fran Loffler-Thompson coaching from the side-line.
The first half starting with Leyland and Chorley’s pushback but Fylde gained possession quickly. Olivia Windows with the ball running up the line, across the baseline and releasing the ball to Camilla Wyles on the post and got the ball into the net with a deflection. After the ladies reset Bella Coupe-Carroll had the ball and drove into the D and found success with a goal. Sara Tomlinson carried the ball and passed to Michelle Finney who finished the play with a goal.
Then came half-time where Fran Loffler-Thompson explained to the girls about improving the play by using the width tactically.
Onto the second half where Fylde began with pushback and kept possession with their strong attack and defence. Olivia Hartley-Smith in defence moving the play and making some great clearances. Philippa Hancock had a fabulous save from a strike going top corner. Leyland and Chorley gaining the attack and earnt themselves a short corner. Unfortunately they got the ball past our goal keeper making the score 3-1.
Megan Hartley-Smith had the ball and ran into the D trying to have a shot but gained a short corner. Olivia Windows had a shot to the bottom left corner which was saved but Isla Carter caught the rebound and scored. Emily Finney dribbling through the opposition with her skills and making fabulous passes. Fylde gained another short corner with Megan Hartley-Smith injecting and Olivia Windows slipping the ball to Leah Richmond who had a hit to the bottom left corner but unfortunately went wide. The team worked well together and secured another goal, the second from Michelle Finney, which made the final score 5-1.
Excellent play from all the girls and all were happy with the score coming off pitch.
Formby 1 3-2 Fylde 2 (Saturday 6th)
On Saturday 6th January, Fylde Ladies 2s travelled to play Formby Hockey Club away. After a fast paced start, Fylde found themselves 1-0 up within the first 6 minutes. During open play, Amelia Hatton dribbled through the middle to Chelsea Atkinson who deflected the ball on the post to Emma Savidge who managed to put it away. As the game progressed Fylde’s determination and hard work got them well into the game resulting in great runs through the middle and out wide. However, Formby soon got back on top with 3 goals, making it 3-1 at half time. As Formby attacked, Kelly Windows took a ball to the face in the defensive D, saving a shot on goal!
Going into the second half, Fylde’s pressure soon paid off when EJ Dunkerley sent the ball from the back up the pitch to left forward Emma Savidge who dribbled through the D and put it in the back of the net once again making it 3-2 within the first 5 minutes. Fylde attacked hard down the wing, winning a few short corners, but not managing to score another goal. Both teams battled hard up to the last minute, with a final score of 3-2. We were disappointed to come away without any points as it didn’t reflect the quality of the game.
Congratulations to Amelia Hatton for winning player of the match with hard work and skilful runs.