More wins for the Ladies 1's & Men's 1's and first wins for the Ladies 4's and also the Mixed team in the EH Cup. Sid the Seagull should have looked happier.
Durham University 2 3-4 Fylde 1
Fylde 1st team were away at Durham this weekend, in what always proves to be a difficult away fixture. Coming in off the back of scoring 8 goals in the last two games, they were looking to continue their winning streak and add more goals to their tally.
Fylde dominated from the start, and only minutes into the game Jess Wharton narrowly missed the goal with a back post volley that had lifted up off the defender's stick. Not long after, Fylde were awarded a penalty corner which was placed in the far left corner of the goal by Vicky Rukin to put Fylde deservedly 1-0 up.
From the restart Durham managed to weave through the Fylde defence and an unmarked player at the back post slotted the ball away to make it 1-1. Within seconds of this goal, Fylde went back down the other end and this time it was Jessica Wharton who converted a penalty corner to make it 2-1 to Fylde in the last minute of the first quarter.
The second quarter was all Fylde, and once again it was captain Vicky Rukin who found the back of the net from another well worked penalty corner.
Durham came out with more attack in the 3rd quarter, and after a dangerous ball was lifted into the circle leaving Lisa Perry to duck to avoid being hit in the head, the umpire played on and Durham scored to make it 3-2.
Fylde continued to create chances down the other end but couldn't put the game to bed, and with only 3 minutes left on the clock it was Durham who were cheering an equalising goal, in what they thought was going to be the last goal of the game. But Fylde had other ideas, Jess Wharton causing more problems down the left side and winning yet another penalty corner. Flor Zapulla stepped up to convert from the top of the circle, leaving the Durham players and supporters stunned and sealing the final score 4-3 to Fylde. A nailbiting end to the game, in which anything less than 3 points would have been a disappointing result for Fylde.
Alderley Edge 2 3-0 Fylde 2
A dull, drizzly, early start saw the 2s travel to Alderley Edge with a strong confident team.
Fylde started the stronger of the teams with multiple attacks in and around the oppositions 25. We continued to press and attack, winning the ball back high up the pitch and winning a few short corners but unable to capitalise on the pressure. Halfway through the first half, with one of their few attacks on Fylde’s circle Alderley Edge won a short corner which immediately resulted in another. The ball eventually was lifted into the net and looked like we had gone one nil down. However, with a rare correct umpire decision the goal was disallowed and deemed to be too high.
However this seemed to give Alderley Edge a boost and with one final attacked before half time they managed to get past the defence to slot the ball into the net.
Fylde needed to regroup in the second half after the disappointment of being behind after such good play in the first half. For most of the second half it was even, with a lot of the play in the centre of the pitch, neither side really getting many chances! However after a great ball through the Fylde defence and after some fabulous initial saves by Michelle the ball broke loose, both teams trying their best to get control, unfortunately Fylde were deemed to have tried to win the ball back a bit to vigorously and a penalty flick was awarded much to the surprise of both teams and the supporters. Alderley Edge score, Michelle narrowly missing at her left post. 2-0
Fylde seemed to lose their way a bit after that and with heads down were unable to break through the Alderley Edge defence.
With nearly the last play of the game Alderley Edge broke through again and scored to leave the Fylde girls flat and a score line of 3-0. Unlucky girls back to winning ways next week! 👊🏻
Fylde 3 5-0 Lancaster & Morecambe 1
Lancaster & Morecambe conceded the game in advance, resulting in the 3's being awarded a 5-0 walkover victory.
Garstang 3 0-1 Fylde 4
Fylde 4s finally secured their first win of the league in a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Garstang 3s.
The game began with both sides demonstrating solid defensive organisation, effectively neutralising each other’s attacking threats. Fylde held possession for the majority of the game with constant press and high play in our attacking half.
Megan Hartley-Smith made an excellent run from defence all the way up the left hand side to reach the D, where she crossed it in to Sophie Melling who had a shot on goal but just missed. This fired up Fylde and encouraged them to carry on pressing high and attack Garstang’s defence. Garstang did manage to reach their forwards a few times in the first half, however Fylde ran straight back with every player behind the ball and defended well. Garstang had one shot on goal in which Emily Byers made an exceptional save. After all the hard work, the score remained 0-0 at half time.
After halftime, Fylde upped the intensity, pressing higher and moving the ball with greater urgency. Isla Carter worked well receiving the ball on the right hand side and driving up the line. This created a pass to Abi Wensley who hit the baseline and crossed into the D. Camilla Wyles had multiple shots on goal but Garstang’s goal keeper worked well under the pressure. Fylde went on to win multiple penalty corners in which Megan Hartley-Smith, Ellie Hope and Hollie Guthrie all had shots on target which were saved.
Garstang went on to react on their counterattacks, in which Olivia Hartley-Smith defended brilliantly and putting her body on the line to win the ball back. Zoe Kirkham and Alys Williams worked well together in defence, controlling and communicating the team in their gameplay.
The breakthrough for Fylde finally came with 10 minutes until the final whistle. Effective team work from midfield players Sara Tomlinson and Kelly Wiseman pushed the team high in the D. After relentless shots and rebounds from Garstang's keeper from Kelly Wiseman, she prevailed when she tapped it in the back of the goal providing Fylde with even more determination for the win.
In the closing stages, Garstang pushed forward in search of an equaliser, but Fylde’s defence was strong with everyone dropping back to protect our goal. The victory was a testament to Fylde’s determination and teamwork, as they fought for every ball and showed grit in a closely matched contest.
With this result, Fylde continue to build momentum and confidence as they look ahead to future fixtures. Player of the match was awarded to the whole team as everybody played exceptionally well and gave 100% effort throughout the whole game. I'd like to show my appreciation to all of the players throughout the teams that had last minute changes too.
Fylde 5 2-0 Pendle Forest 3
Fylde 5s were first up at a brisk Mill Farm on Saturday to face off against unbeaten table leaders Pendle Forest. From the previous season, we knew they were likely to have strong adults and good youngsters to match our own and we were right. With coaching support from Fran Loffler-Thompson and Jay Currey and 2 subs, the team felt good even if we were in the “wrong” dugout and started on the west side of the pitch (the horror).
Play started strongly on both sides and largely went back and forth in the midfield. Fylde passed well as they had done last week and this paid off when Aimee Jennings neatly walked the ball into the goal, much to the shock of the Pendle players. A quick restart and Pendle started driving the ball both down the centre of the pitch and using their very fast right forward to put Fylde’s defence to the test.
We welcomed Liddy Eccles back from a very short maternity leave who made an impact on getting the ball up to the forwards. Fylde won a 3 penalty corners in quick succession. The straight strike wasn’t working so for the third a slipped ball gave Gabriella Hopley-Sherratt a chance at goal, the ball rebounded off the keeper straight back to Gabriella who aimed bottom right post and put Fylde two goals ahead. The remainder of the first half saw constant back and forth as the play was evenly spread and players were grateful for the rest when half time came.
Whilst a 2-0 lead gave Fylde confidence in the second half, it was clear that Pendle would fight hard to pull it back. The halves, Grace Lord, Evie Dunne and Leah Richmond interrupted the sideline charges as Fylde struggled to cover middle for a little while giving Pendle room to attack from the top of the circle. Debbie McClelland and Megan Eccles were outstanding as centre backs thwarting nearly every effort Pendle sent at the goal, the odd ball that made it to Jenay Gucver’s pads was dutifully kicked away and it was truly a team effort to keep clearing the circle and remount the attack.
Pendle had a heart stopping moment when they managed to hit the left post, it ricocheted across to the right post and to our relief popped back out into the field. Both sides fought to the end and Fylde were delighted with the unexpected result. Huge credit to the defensive skills displayed by the team which were the key to victory this week.
Fylde 6 Development 0-5 Longridge Development
Longridge Development Team turned up at Mill Farm with a select mix of experienced adults and talented youngsters to defeat a youthful and inexperienced Fylde side 5-0.
Fylde’s youngsters were full of determination and fight but their finishing powers were cut short by the experienced older players in defence. The Longridge youth were well skilled in attack, supported by older experienced players, and played good hockey to deserve the win.
A different team every week makes for exciting outcomes for Fylde and many learnings from defeat!
Special thanks should go to Evie, Aimee, Grace & Leah who supported the team following their previous game and to Nikki for staying and running the bench. Teamwork drives our club and we all pulled together to ensure that we fielded our six Ladies teams on the day, no matter about the result!!
Garstang 2 1-3 Fylde 1
Fylde Men were without their captain Richard Clarke due to concussion, but had old-timer Martin Hayes available and also Oli van Rijn escaped from school for the morning push back at Garstang.
Fylde dominated the first half, with the majority of possession, and keeping a tight defence. Ollie Holmes opened the scoring with a straight short corner strike, which caught a deflection off a defender’s stick into the goal.
Fylde started the second half brightly but it was Garstang who hit back with an equaliser. A poorly struck hit out of defence by Pete Latimer led to an attack and the ball came back to the top of the D, where the Garstang player entered the D unchallenged and unleashed a strong flick towards the goal. It hit Phil Weir on the knee, flew into the air, past Craig Nutter in goal and a Garstang striker batted the ball into the net. Somewhat unlucky for Fylde.
The game became more open with both sides sensing the chance to win. Both defences were working hard to cut out the attacks. Eventually after a fine dribble from Luke Hitchen and an initial shot was saved, Martin Hayes pounced on the ball and sent it into the goal to give Fylde a 2-1 lead.
Minutes later, after a long strike from Fylde’s half, Martin Hayes got a slight touch and the ball past the defender, leaving Oli van Rijn for a run and one-on-one with the keeper, and with a fantastic reverse strike, he lifted the ball over the diving keeper into the net.
Fylde saw out the remaining few minutes for a 3-1 victory, which leaves them 3rd in the league and facing the leaders Lancaster & Morecambe next week at Mill Farm.
Oli Adewale was almost unanimously voted man of the match for the second week in succession after another great match attacking and defending.
Fylde Mixed 2-1 Keswick Mixed (Sunday)
Fylde Mixed team won their first ever game in the EH Mixed Cup, after two losses last season, in a tough battle at home to Keswick Mixed team.
A scratch side of 13, following several withdrawals following the games the day before, introduced themselves on the unfamiliar pitch at UCLan, as unfortunately Mill Farm had been taken over by Lancashire Boys. A mix of youth and experience from all 7 Fylde senior teams, along with Fylde coach Jay Currey who currently plays his men’s hockey at Preston.
It took a few minutes for Fylde to find their rhythm, but before long they were passing to each other, from the back-line of Jay Currey, Zoe Kirkham, Pete Latimer and Oli Adewale through the midfield of Liz Johson, Olivia John-Haslam, Ellie Hope, through to the young attacking midfielders of Luke Hitchen and James Dobson onto the lone striker, and one of the club’s top scorers, Megan Wildish.
Fylde opened the scoring after good dribbling skills from Luke Hitchen and James Dobson resulted in the ball hit in front of goal from the left baseline, and Megan Wildish on hand to push it into the goal away from the keeper.
Gradually Keswick found their game and put pressure on the Fylde defence, with some heroic scrambling at times by the defenders and goalkeeper Craig Nutter. Towards the end of the half, a well struck shot at pace from outside the D across the goal, was deflected beautifully by one of Keswick’s ladies in front of the near post into the goal.
Fylde were using their two subs, with Julie Knowles in midfield and Jay Mayne as an attacking midfielder, and rotated for the rest of the game, as various players found their limbs complaining about a second game in 24 hours.
Keswick seemed to have gained momentum into the second half, with a high press causing Fylde some problems, although it did leave spaces behind to run into, so the game opened up somewhat. On several occasions the tall Keswick centre back with a long reach managed to snuff out attacks, or their goalkeeper made some important blocks, so another goal for Fylde was elusive.
Keswick had a counter attack with their male striker outrunning two of Fylde defenders, leaving Pete Latimer to make a last ditch effort of a tackle inside the D that was incredibly clumsy, resulting in a penalty stroke being rightfully awarded. Up stepped the Keswick penalty taker against Craig Nutter, and he flicked the ball left of the post, to the relief of Fylde.
The game still stuck at 1-1, and the fear of penalty shuffles if the score remained the same, Fylde went on the attack, with the defenders pushing up the pitch. Pete Latimer struck the ball from a free hit just inside the Keswick half, found a gap, and it was collected by striker Megan Wildish, who entered the D and only had the goalkeeper to beat. She kept her composure, rounded the keeper and struck the ball with her reverse stick, which went through the keeper’s legs into the goal.
With less than ten minutes to play, Fylde managed to hold on, despite Keswick pushing up the field and putting on a lot of pressure. A first win for the Mixed team, a real team effort with some great performances. The team remain in the Tier 1 competition and proceed into Round 2 in 3 week’s time.
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