Only 3 league games this weekend, with most teams still on the half-term break.
Fylde 1 3-2 Liverpool Sefton 1
Vitality Women's Conference North
Fylde Ladies 1's dominated the possession in their home match against Liverpool Sefton, however were close to losing before coming back in the final quarter.
Sefton opened the scoring from a breakaway midway through the first half, only for Fylde to score minutes later from a short corner by Amy Merrick. In the second half, again Sefton retook the lead against the run of play. It was the final quarter before Fylde equalised through Georgia Marsden, and then with five minutes to go it was Georgia Marsden again who scored to give Fylde the deserved lead which then hung on to till the end of the game.
With Timperley losing, Fylde jump to the top of National Conference North and remain unbeaten.
Didsbury Greys 1 2-3 Fylde 2
North West Women's Division 1
The game started and Fylde had most of the possession, with a few close chances. Didsbury scored first but heads didn’t drop, Fylde kept working for each other and at the end of the first half were rewarded with a short corner. With a great strike from EJ Dunkerley they equalised at 1-1.
After a constructive team talk, Fylde saw the gaps where they could attack Didsbury. They utilised the opposition's slow setting up and took balls quickly. From a ball down the left Chelsea Atkinson was one on one with the goalkeeper and scored bottom right; Fylde leading 2-1. Didsbury weren’t giving up and continued to attack but Fylde's defence was there to stop them with support from everyone getting back.
Another good build-up of play led to a short corner with Dawn Child scoring making it 3-1. Fylde kept their composure despite some questionable umpiring decisions however Didsbury managed to get a goal making it 3-2. Fylde were on top and were determined to get those 3 points, everyone was working as one to stop all of the opposition's chances. The final whistle blew and they had won 3-2 after lots of hard work and determination against an experienced opposition.
Well done everyone and let’s keep up this winning streak.
Fylde 2 3-1 Kirkby Lonsdale 2
North West Men's Division 4 North
Fylde Men's 2's had a full squad, with the half-term holiday meaning additional juniors were available, and also had the luxury of head coach Kenny Gardiner on the side-line due to the 1's having a bye week.
Fylde started strongly with some good passing and moving, and urgency on the ball. Within ten minutes, Adam Bate struck the ball hard into the D from the left corner, and Phil Hope very cleverly angled his stick to deflect the ball into the goal leaving the keeper with no hope of saving.
Fylde dominated possession but weren't able to secure a second goal during the first half, despite regular rotation of players and constant fresh legs, and Kirkby Lonsdale started having a few attacks of their own, but the Fylde defence stood firm, including Alex Fuller in debut as goalkeeper.
Kirkby Lonsdale were stronger in the second half, after a change in formation, and Fylde had to soak up some pressure before being able to break away and re-establish their dominance in possession. The second goal was slightly unusual, after James Dobson had a shot at the top of the D, it sounded like it had hit the post and bounced out of play, but the umpire ruled that it had crossed the goal-line at some point.
Not long afterwards, Pete Latimer took a quick long corner, a one-two pass to James Smith and back, found James Dobson in the D, who gave a short pass to Phil Hope who was in a better position to score his second goal and make the score 3-0.
Kirkby Lonsdale didn't give up and on a counter attack were able to dribble and find room to score. The game opened up at the end of the match, and Phil Hope had a point blank save by the Kirkby goalkeeper and even Pete Latimer was up in the D with a goal scoring chance for the second match in a row.
Final score 3-1 and Fylde up to 3rd in Division 4N. Andy Lund was voted player of the match for his secure defence and distribution of the ball from the back.