Match Reports 15 & 16 Mar 2025
- Peter Latimer
- Mar 19
- 9 min read
A mixed set of senior results and the U10 girls crowned Lancashire Champions
Leeds 1 1-1 Fylde 1
On Saturday Fylde 1st team faced their biggest game of the season away at Leeds at 5pm. Leeds were sat in 1st place, 3 points ahead of trailing Fylde and with a superior goal difference, so nothing less than a win would be good enough.
Fylde started the more positive of the two teams, and some lovely play through the midfield resulted in Lisa Perry playing a fantastic through ball to put Rebecca Worthington through 1 on 1 with the keeper. Unfortunately the chance wasn't converted and Leeds fought back forcing Katie Barker to make two crucial saves down the other end.
The second quarter was controlled by Fylde, but they couldn't convert their possession into goals and the game went into half time at 0-0.
Early in the second half Leeds turned the ball over in their attacking half and found a free player top D who produced a composed finish to put them 1-0 up. Fylde continued to pile the pressure on searching for a goal, and came so close with a Megan Wildish strike on a penalty corner that was agonisingly wide of the post.
The game had opened up more with Leeds playing on the counter attack, Katie Barker produced some excellent saves to keep Fylde in the game, and Captain Vicky Rukin saved a ball on the line, but unfortunately with her chin, and had to come off for the remainder of the game.
With only seconds left on the clock, Fylde finally managed to find a way through the Leeds defence, with striker Nicky Kellet making it 1-1. A fair result, and testament to Fylde's determination not to give up until the final whistle.
A point each way keeps the battle for promotion alive until the last game of the season.
Fylde 2 4-1 Winnington Park 1
Fylde 2s secured a much-needed win against Winnington Park this weekend.
The game started off slow for Fylde, which allowed Winnington Park to score an early goal from a fast break. This fuelled Fylde, who organised the press and completely disrupted Winnington’s gameplay. The scoreline was levelled by Holly Farquharson in the 21st minute, from a broken down short corner, giving Fylde some much-needed energy to carry into the second half.
The second half started strong, with a huge effort from both teams working up and down the pitch. Fylde managed to find their rhythm, and possession was dominated by them in the second half as they searched for their second goal. They managed to break down Winnington’s defence after winning a short corner in the 45th minute, which was converted into a goal by Dawn Child with a deflection over the keeper.
Fylde carried the energy from that goal and began playing some amazing hockey, transferring the ball around the back and exploiting pockets of space for a fast attack. This allowed them to win another short corner, which led to a 3-1 scoreline from a goal by Chelsea Atkinson in the 54th minute.
Winnington began to tire, meaning Fylde was able to play their game and kept knocking at the goal, forcing the keeper to make brilliant saves and creating a scramble within the Winnington defence, resulting in another short corner late in the match. During this set piece, the ball was passed across the D, finding Izzy Mahon, who was able to convert the goal from the back post, making the final score 4-1 in the 61st minute. This ensured the 3 points and increased the much-needed goal difference.
Fylde 3 7-1 Lytham St Annes 1
It was another warm day as Fylde prepared to go play against local team Lytham eager to gain 3 points from the match to stand them in a good position before the end of the season.
The game started with Lytham having first push back in which Abi Wensley turned the ball over almost straight away which started our first attack. After continuous back and forth from both teams for several minutes at the start of the match Lytham managed to find a rebound after an amazing save by Sophie Slawson which meant Lytham gained a 1-0 lead.
However it didn’t stay like this for long closely after Fylde broke away by a great run from Issy Gut down the baseline who slipped the ball across to Abi Wensley for a one touch slap in. Fylde’s heads remained determined as shortly after an almost identical goal came from yet again Abi Wensley.
At half time coach Jay Currey told the girls to remain calm now on the ball but to keep pressing high and setting up our press early as it became evident that Lytham were unable to find a way out of our press.
Fylde started with the ball in the second half and within 5 minutes came a great run from the left hand side by Sophia Melling who drove the ball into the D and took a strike which landed in the back of the net, this was the first of many goals for Sophia today as she was in a battle to get as high up the scoreboard as she can.
An astonishing 2 minutes later Sophia scored her second goal of the match making the score line 4-1 to Fylde. Lytham again didn’t see to find a way through our players which meant Fylde could keep attacking quickly to score more goals.
Sophia throughout the rest of the second half managed to score another 3 goals which was absolutely incredible and all very well deserved. The whole play on Saturday was insane by the whole team. Simple hockey, passing round the back and up the line, using the baseline all these aspects helped us to reach our 7-1 victory over lytham.
In what was a dramatic game with Flo Worden getting injured twice at the same time and Sophia Melling getting injured at the end of the match whist trying to gain her sixth goal there were many tears but also many celebrations after the game.
Longridge 2 2-1 Fylde 4
Fylde faced Longridge in a hard-fought match, ultimately losing 2-1 despite a strong effort. The game remained goalless at half-time, with both teams defending well and struggling to break the deadlock.
In the second half, Fylde came out strong and took the lead early on. Ellie Hope scored a goal at the beginning of the half, giving Fylde a 1-0 advantage. However, Longridge responded with two goals of their own, turning the game around and securing a 2-1 victory.
Despite the loss, Fylde showed resilience throughout, and it was an unlucky result given the team’s strong performance. They will be looking to bounce back in their next match.
Fylde 5 0-2 Clitheroe Blackburn Northern 3
The penultimate game of the season for the 5th team was a afternoon slot at Mill Farm. Thankfully not as warm as last week but the sun still out in force. Clitheroe Blackburn Northern brought a strong squad and looked to capitalise on their previous league victory against Fylde before Christmas.
Fylde set out well, once against disciplined in structure but CBN were repeatedly one step in front and meeting the ball ahead of Fylde players. The first half saw plenty of defensive action from Fylde and some well defended short corners. Fylde made progress up the pitch but became stuck in the circle as CBN blocked any attempts on goal. Fylde also won short corners but failed to convert, again as CBN set up well to intercept the play. CBN scored their first goal but Fylde continued to press and held them to 1-0 at half time.
The second half played out in a similar fashion with Fylde struggling to ascertain dominance for more than a few passes although marking and tackling in the defensive circle was very effective, certainly denying CBN a number of chances. An excellent shot from CBN passed between the post and keeper Jenay Gucver’s foot to give CBN their second goal although Jenay had stepped up to block and clear numerous other attempts. Fylde had good attacking play in the final ten minutes but couldn’t seem to get near the goal.
Despite a 2-0 loss this was a huge improvement on the previous meeting where the scoreline finished at 6-0. Positives to be taken but CBN were the stronger team on the day.
Lancaster & Morecambe 1 3-0 Fylde 1
Fylde Men drove the short distance up the A6 to play the league leaders Lancaster & Morecambe on a lovely clear sunny day. With only a squad of 12 they knew it would be a tough match, although having drawn the home game 4-4 earlier in the season they weren’t overawed by the prospect.
Despite pre-match talk of concentrating and not giving away an early goal, this is in fact what happened. There was an attack down the right wing and then a ball crossed at pace across the face of the goal, which defender Pete Latimer thought he needed to deflect to avoid any strikers behind him, however his outstretched stick just deflected the ball 90 degrees into the goalmouth. A striker would have been proud of the goal, but ignominy for a defender.
Lancaster had the upper hand throughout the half, intercepting any of Fylde’s attacks and dominating midfield. They won a short corner where they switched the ball to their left for a player to shoot at goal, and again Pete Latimer managed to get his stick to the ball, but not enough to stop the ball entering the goal.
They they won a series of short corners, some of which were snuffed out by the runners Phil Weir and Sean Lester (or parts of their bodies). Then one was initially saved by goalkeeper Craig Nutter but not fully cleared away and a Lancaster player poached on it to score and make the score 3-0 at halftime.
Fylde came out more determined for the second half, knowing they had more to give. There was more attacks, and shots fired off by Luke Hitchen, Phil Hope, Jack Jones, Tim and Oli van Rijn, but the Lancaster goalkeeper played a blinder, making close saves, and tapping balls over the bar, there was no way through.
Meanwhile at the other end, Fylde’s defence were working more as a unit, and some important tackles and saves by Phil Weir and Craig Nutter meant that the team didn’t concede in the second half.
0-3 the final score and Fylde stay 3rd but well behind the two teams ahead of them.
Tim van Rijn was voted the Man of the Match, and Pete Latimer DoD for his two own-goals. Sausages, chips and gravy were enjoyed in the pub afterwards, along with more homemade cupcakes brought by team chef Victoria.
Fylde U10 Girls Lancashire In2Hockey (Sunday)
On a warm sunny Sunday, our Fylde U10 girls were involved in the annual In2Hockey tournament where they play matches against local teams in order to try and qualify for the regional finals held on the 27th April.
The first match the girls had was against Coastal. The girls got off to a dominant start against Coastal with Jessica taking us 1-0 up in the first half of the game. Fylde remained strong with a few tough battles against Coastal. However Fylde fought back and with a great ball sent in from Fylde, Cerys was able to tap the ball in from the penalty spot into the bottom corner. Eventually the final whistle went and the girls won 2-0 in their first game. This set Fylde off to an excellent and impressive start.
After a long and well deserved break, the girls were ready for their second match against a strong and dominant Preston team. During this game their was excellent opportunities of goals from lots of short corners and strong successful passes. Alexis carried the ball strong down the line and sent a great ball into the D where Jessica received the ball and had a 1v1 opportunity with their goal keeper. However Jessica managed to slip it past the keeper and made it 1-0.
On the other hand, Preston won a short corners against Fylde. Our defenders worked really hard to run out and protect the goal. In the end, Bella (Goalkeeper) saved an excellent shot and kept the score 1-0. Yet again Fylde then had another excellent battle in the D trying to score again. Jessica once again dived across the floor and slapped the ball through the keeper’s legs making it 2-0. With excellent defending from the Fylde girls they managed to keep the score 2-0 by the end of the final whistle.
Due to Fylde winning both games, they won the tournament and were named Lancashire Champions 👏👏
They will now take part in the Regional finals in the next few weeks. Well done to all the girls involved, every single one of you worked hard and held the team together. Congratulations 🏆
Fylde U12 Girls Lancashire In2Hockey (Sunday)
The Under 12’s finished 3rd playing against older opposition but did themselves proud.
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