Half-term league break for most teams, but there were two rearranged league games and three cup games, with a dramatic penalty shoot out for the Men.
Fylde 4 1-2 Brookfield 1
Fylde 4’s semi-final cup match against Brookfield ended in a 2-1 defeat, despite a strong performance and an early lead at halftime. A second-half comeback from Brookfield saw them take the victory, sending them through to the final.
In the first half, Fylde came out with intensity, eager to make a mark in the semi-final. The early exchanges were evenly matched, with both teams having opportunities to break the deadlock. Fylde’s defence, led by Zoe Kirkham and Alys Williams ensured Brookfield's attacks were kept at bay. Strong passes up the lines of the pitch from both Olivia and Megan Hartley-Smith, which created some great chances for the team.
Fylde’s persistence finally paid off when a well-executed pass found Olivia Windows in space at the edge of the D. With calm composure, she took a touch to control the ball before slamming it past the Brookfield goalkeeper, giving Fylde a 1-0 lead and the team entered the break with a well-deserved advantage.
In the second half, Brookfield came out with renewed energy, determined to turn the game around. Within the first 10 minutes of the second half, they began to apply more pressure on Fylde’s defence. Fylde’s goalkeeper Emily Byers made a series of crucial saves, keeping Fylde in the game. However Brookfield's persistence paid off. After a scramble in the circle, a Brookfield forward found herself in space and powered a shot in the goal to level the score at 1-1.
The game was now intense as both teams pushed forward in search of a winner. Fylde responded well to the equaliser, with midfield players; Ellie Hope, Sara Tomlinson and Olivia Windows working tirelessly in attack. Fylde had several chances to regain the lead, but Brookfield's defence held strong, and their goalkeeper made some vital saves to keep the score level.
With less than 5 minutes to go until the final whistle, a long corner for Brookfield was quickly taken, leaving Fylde unprepared and not ready. Although Emily got a hand to the initial shot, she couldn’t prevent the rebound from being put away by a Brookfield forward, giving them a 2-1 lead.
Fylde fought hard in the final moments, throwing everything they had at Brookfield, but despite a couple of near-misses, they couldn’t find the equaliser. Although Fylde lost the game, the play didn’t reflect the scoreline but they can take pride in their performance. They dominated the first half and played with passion and grit throughout the match. Thank you to the players that stepped in to help out due to many people missing from the usual squad.
Chorley Phoenix 2 3-1 Fylde 5
After the previous fixture was abandoned at 21 minutes due to heavy hail, Fylde returned to Walton le Dale to face off again an experienced, adult Chorley Phoenix who we knew were hunting promotion.
It was a tough game and despite the energy and speed of the 5s, Chorley Phoenix worked well with strength and agility. They quickly landed a goal after just a minute giving Fylde barely time to react.
Fylde regrouped and with the coaching support of Fran Loffler-Thompson, found a more disciplined structure to hold Chorley Phoenix back. There were opportunities for Fylde in the circle but the opposition's midfield were very good at turning over play. After a fumble on the line, Chorley Phoenix were awarded a penalty stroke. We took a deep breath as goalkeeper Emily Byers read the taker well and denied Chorley Phoenix another goal.
Fylde’s defence worked continuously and the midfield were getting better at coming back to support. Megan Eccles made a huge impact as a half and Hollie Bailey took on Phoenix’s stronger player in the midfield to much success. Phoenix scored their second with a powerful hit that no one was getting in the way of.
The half time talk was positive and Fylde restarted with good effort levels. Phoenix started to tire a little and Fylde took good advantage of these moments to attack the circle. Three penalty corners yielded no results as Phoenix were quick off the line.
Phoenix scored their third as Fylde’s defence struggled to mark the vast number of players flooding the circle. Fylde didn’t give up and an attack up pitch gave Tilly Tomlinson to tap the ball in the back of the goal, pulling back a goal.
Whilst Phoenix had started to slow, it was barely noticeable as their desire to win was stronger! A hard fought game for Fylde’s predominantly younger side but a good opportunity to learn from the challenges presented by a fully adult team. A superb performance from Emily Byers who kept the score-line much lower than Phoenix would have liked.
Fylde 1 2-2 Leyland & Chorley 2
Cup lost on penalties 3-4
Fylde Men finally played their first league game against Leyland & Chorley 2’s, postponed twice due to bad weather, and as they’d also been drawn against each other in the Div 4 Lancashire Cup it was agreed that the result would be used for both.
Fylde dominated the first half, but could only score the one goal, a well-worked effort with some fine dribbling from Fin Taylor and a final pass to Oli Adewale in space in the D who calmly found the gap between goalkeeper and post.
Leyland managed to equalise when an attacker entered the D near the bye-line and was able to evade more than one defender, and then find a striker unmarked at the back post.
Frustratingly for Fylde, they then went behind at a short corner, where an initial shot was blocked on the line by Phil Weir, but the ball rebounded into the air, and one of Leyland’s players was able to bat the ball down from overhead-height into the goal with little the Fylde defence could do.
Fylde became increasingly frustrated and it boiled over when Pete Latimer was given a green card for being too robust in tackling and chasing the ball. Whilst he was off for his 2 minute punishment the team managed to score from a short corner. Joel Baines injected to Phil Hope at the tip of the D, who then shifted it to his right, fired off a shot into the bottom left corner, a thunderbolt of a strike!
2-2 and both sides were fighting for possession and the chance to take the victory. A shoulder barge from a Leyland player on Pete Latimer resulted in a green card, but the bad language that came out of Latimer’s mouth meant that he received a 5-minute yellow card. A couple of minutes later Luke Hitchen also received a yellow card, meaning that Fylde were down to 9 men for a short while.
Neither side were able to find a further goal so the league match ended in a 2-2 draw.
The cup match however continued to a penalty flick contest. 5 players from each side took turns, as per the videos and commentary that follows.
Despite their initial 1-0 lead, Fylde had their last 2 flicks saved and lost 3-4 in the shootout, leaving Leyland to progress to the Cup Semi-Final.
Fin Taylor was awarded Man of the Match, just ahead of Jack Jones, who excelled in the CDM position.
Fylde Mixed 1-2 Liverpool Sefton Mixed (Sunday)
Fylde Mixed team had to concede their 2nd round Tier 1 game to City of Manchester and so were then placed into Tier 2 where they faced Liverpool Sefton in the 2nd round. With Fylde selecting from every single senior side, from Ladies 1’s to the 5’s and the Men’s single team, they knew they would have a tough match against Sefton whose Mens 1’s compete in Division 1.
So it proved, with Sefton having multiple short corners throughout the first half, and scoring from one of them within 10 minutes. However Fylde struck back from their own, with Megan Wildish striking and Phil Hope getting a stick to the ball to deflect it into the goal.
1-1 at half-time and it was again backs to the walls in the second half, but with some heroic defending, from goalkeeper Michelle Longton, EJ Dunkerley and Pete Latimer, they kept the score the same until 5 minutes from the end when Sefton scored when a short corner broke down and Fylde didn’t fully clear the ball out of the D.
A 1-2 defeat but heads held high for all 14 of the Fylde squad.
Below are two links to hundreds of photos taken by Wing-Shum Lee shared on Facebook:
A couple of examples below.
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