The Ladies 4's secured promotion from Division 4 N(C) without playing this week, and in the same division the Ladies 5's have avoided relegation.
Fylde 1 0-2 Timperley 1
Fylde's last home game of the season was against a struggling Timperley side, coached by ex-Fylde 1st team coach Ali Ghazanfar, they had only won two games all season. Another draw or defeat would seal their fate as being relegated out of the national league, so they came out fighting.
They had a good spell of pressure in the first 10 minutes, where Fylde were sloppy with possession and allowed them opportunities to enter the circle. One of these resulted in a penalty corner after a careless tackle, and this was converted to make it 1-0.
This gave Timperley confidence and they continued to press. Despite Fylde having a lot of possession, they couldn't connect in the attacking quarter and this led to a Timperley counter attack. An unmarked player collected the ball high into the left channel, sending an early cross into the circle which was slipped past the Fylde keeper.
Fylde continued to dominate possession but as we have seen on too many occasions this season, failed to turn the possession into goals and the game finished 2-0 to Timperley. A disappointing result and performance, however we hope to finish the season with a victory away next week at league leaders Pendle Forest.
Brooklands-Poynton 2 2-0 Fylde 2
Fylde approached this important match determined to carry on from the previous week’s success. With a brief but direct team talk from injured captain Sally Livesey we felt ready and prepared for the match!
Brooklands came out very strong and it was clear early on they had improved from our first match against them! In the middle of the first half, with organised plays and excellent movement, Brooklands broke down our left, sending a well timed ball through the Fylde defence, the Brooklands forward found herself on the 25 with a direct line to goal, only being closely tracked and then tackled by Lucy Wane. Unfortunately the umpire saw a mistimed tackle and awarded a penalty flick. Michelle Longton did her best but wasn’t able to keep the flick out.
Fylde didn’t let their heads go down and with a few positional changes Fylde found more positivity working up both wings and with excellent movement by the forwards they started to get more balls into the attacking D, winning a few short corners. We believed we could score. With a few minutes until half time Brooklands kept finding space in between the Fylde midfield and with another breakaway were in Fylde’s D again, with an initial fantastic save by Michelle, Fylde couldn’t dig the ball out to clear, and saw themselves go two nil down after a strong follow up from the Brooklands forward.
Sally kept our heads up at half time and we all agreed to reset! Second half was much better, with better movement and determination, Fylde pressed on the Brooklands defence causing cracks and errors allowing Fylde to get a few shots on goal, unfortunately for Fylde, Brooklands keeper was having a great game and kept a clean sheet. As always the girls give everything but it just wasn’t our day!
Fylde 3 3-2 Kirkby Stephen 2
Since Christmas the Fylde 3rds have played with 11 players on regular basis. However due to the 4th team game being off, it was possible to increase the playing number to 13 with Issy Gut and Liddy Eccles coming into the team.
The game started brightly for Fylde with really good quality passing and play which caused the opposition to defend deeper than they would have chosen. With a front three of Sophia Murray, Emily Greenwood and Charlotte Lavin, the team had a potent striking force and this showed with a goal from Sophia within 10 minutes. Kirby Stephen hit back with some long range passing which Fylde failed to eliminate.
At the half time the score was 1-1 with a well marshalled team from Kirby Stephen being able to push the team back and get some good chances. Fylde's midfield has been our strength in the recent weeks but today the ball stayed up in the opposition half for longer periods. A second goal was forthcoming and again Sophia was the player having moved from being a defender to a striker for this game.
The third goal was about 15 minutes to the end and was scored by Emily after good work by Charlotte. With the game moving to an end, Kirby Stephen got a penalty corner which they scored in the top left corner. The whistle for full time came almost immediately after this and so for a change Fylde 3s went away with a win!
Fylde 5 1-3 Clitheroe Blackburn Northern 3
Fylde went out as a strong team today but struggled to connect midfield. CBN persisted in getting strong balls through the middle and Fylde’s defence struggled to fight off all attempts on goal.
Fylde conceded a goal when defence deflected a hard hit into the D which then hit the keeper. The opposition attempted to send it into the nets and the umpire felt they connected. Again and again Fylde turned play around denying the opposition chances but were unable to convert in the D.
Jenay Gucver on the debut in goal for Fylde 5s made some amazing saves, supported by a resilient defence who went to their knees to prevent a goal scoring opportunity. Despite all their best efforts Fylde struggled to come back from a 3-0 score line until a wonderful through ball by Dawn Perruzza flew destined for the oppositions back line but the swift legs of Camilla Wyles intercepted it inches from the line and pushed into the D and tomahawked it into the goal.
It a shame that the last game for many of the regular team was a loss but the game didn’t represent what a brilliant season the team had. Final score Fylde 1 - CBN 3.
Win as a team lose as a team. We wouldn’t be the team we are without you all.
Leyland & Chorley 2 2-4 Fylde 6 Development
It was a surreal day for the Ladies 6/Development Team as they planned to start with 8 players, increasing to 10 with reinforcements from another earlier game. In the end they started with 7 players (the minimum rule requirement) and finished with 11!
Player/coach Fran instructed the 7 players to defend the middle with confidence whilst choosing to play without a goalkeeper, and hold out until the cavalry arrived!! We took a surprising lead with a finely taken goal from Ellie Hope but gifted Leyland & Chorley 2 with two first half goals.
Ten minutes from half time two of the cavalry arrived with Dawn Perruzza and Grace Lord running on to support our tiring team. We welcomed the half time whistle and the arrival of two more of our regular players - Emily and Michelle. This lifted our team spirits to new levels!
The second half brought a hattrick for Leah Richmond, as she moved into a striker role, and a harshly disallowed goal for Emily! Lauren Mayor struck two scorchers which narrowly missed the target and Grace Lord made a diving save off the line!
A truly inspirational and enjoyable performance from a mixed group of players who bonded with the will to win in extraordinary circumstances!