Start of a new season with away wins for both the Ladies' & Men's 1st teams, together with a home win for the Ladies 5's.
Didsbury Northern 1 1-2 Fylde 1
After a difficult start to the season with an unexpected change in coaching staff, Fylde 1st team were looking to get their first win of the season away at Didsbury Northern. There were 4 new debutantes to the squad- Nicky Kellett, Rebecca Worthington, Megan Wildish, and Olivia Newman Kirk all strengthening the squad, along with Lucy Wane making her 1st team debut.
Fylde dominated from the whistle, calling the Didsbury keeper into action several times in the first few minutes. Fylde were awarded a penalty corner in the 9th minute, which was converted by Vicky Rukin to put Fylde 1-0 up. Fylde continued to apply pressure, and a lovely move up the right hand side of the pitch from Kellet and Newman Kirk resulted in a shot from Grace McGarvey which was calmly deflected over the keeper by Rebecca Worthington, making it 2-0 to Fylde.
Didsbury Northern came out fighting in the second half, but Fylde continued to dominate possession. A misplaced Fylde PC led to Didsbury scoring on the counter attack against the outnumbered Fylde defence. Both teams were awarded more penalty corners in the last quarter but neither could convert and Fylde saw the game out to be worthy 2-1 winners.
A fantastic performance from Lisa Perry in central midfield earned her player of the match. Fylde are on the road again next week against newly promoted Whitley Bay.
Golborne & Prescot 1 3-0 Fylde 2
Fylde 2s were ready for a good game against Prescot on this sunny day. The first half saw some great pressing from Fylde. Although our press was great, one of their forwards managed to break through, resulting in a short corner. An aerial ball over the top of all the players to the right hand top corner saw Prescot’s first goal. It was now 1-0 to Prescot.
Not disheartened, EJ Dunkerley produced some great long balls and Sophia Murray made effective runs, helping Fylde add pressure to Prescot’s defence. Grace Tomlinson and Izzy Mahon worked well together forward with short passes, which resulted in some short corners for Fylde. With some fantastic tackling from our defence and channelling from our mids Prescot were unable to score for the rest of the half.
After a team talk and some sweets, Fylde hit hard at the start of the 2nd half. Sally Livesey put some great balls down the right channel which saw opportunities for our forwards. Chances were created by Izzy, Olivia John-Haslam, Grace and Emily Greenwood, and although non resulted in a goal, short corners were won. Although our press was strong, Prescot turned the ball around quickly and double teamed against our defence, resulting in an unlucky goal. The score was now 2-0.
Michelle made some great saves, but as Prescot kept pressing our defence they slipped a final goal in, 3-0. In the last few minutes of play, Grace skilfully won Fylde a short corner. With a cheeky slip from EJ, another short was then won. This time Izzy recieved the ball and had a shot. This resulted in another foot and a final short for Fylde. Everyone pressed up, and tried their best to convert it to a goal. However, Prescot managed to get it off the side.
Throughout the whole match Fylde worked hard and battled together, and even the umpires commented that 3-0 was an unlucky result. Well played everyone :))
Fylde 3 3-3 Clitheroe Blackburn Northern 1
For the first game of the season Fylde brought out a strong side with new additions to the team which included Hermione Edwards and lola Cooper. Fylde started convincingly with a goal coming from Issy Gut within the first five minutes, this led to a boost in confidence from the young side. After good passing round the team, it was clear Fylde had another goal in them which was proved right as a goal came from Abbie Warburton who tapped it in at the far post from an amazing strike by Liz Johnson at top D.
However, the experienced Clitheroe and Blackburn side equalised by two unfortunate goals which meant that the score going into halftime was 2-2. Val had a positive half-time talk as coaches Jay Currey and Fran Loffler-Thompson gave the 3rd team lots of advice and encouragement to take into the second half.
The second half started with Fylde’s heads held high however Clitheroe and Blackburn had the same strategy and managed to find the back of the net on a third occasion.
Fylde responded with more determination and worked well as a team through communication and passing round the back to put pressure on Clitheroe and Blackburn. Fylde’s hard work paid off as Charlotte Lavin scored a very important goal a few minutes later to equalise as the game finished 3-3.
This game was an extremely positive start for Fylde and has given them things to celebrate but also things to work on. After a team vote Abbie Warburton was awarded player of the match which was definitely deserved.
Lancaster Nomads 1 8-1 Fylde 4
In a challenging match, Fylde 4s suffered a heavy 8-1 defeat against Lancaster Nomads. From the first whistle Lancaster proved they were a more experienced side. Fylde 4s was full of new players that made their debut including Emily Finney, Lauren Mayor, Isla Carter, Kayt Rayner, Hollie Whiteside and Emily Byers.
As Fylde struggled to find their rhythm, Lancaster Nomads relentlessly pressed high up the pitch which resulted in 2 goals being scored. Fylde went on to win 2 penalty corners where they had a shot but were defended well by the opposition. Later on, a penalty corner was won by Lancaster Nomads that was well cleared by our defence including Olivia Hartley-Smith, Zoe Kirkham, Megan Eccles and Lauren Mayor. Lancaster continued their pressure and went on to score 3 more goals.
At half time the score line was 5-0 to Lancaster Nomads. Fylde went on to show brief signs of life at the start of the second half as Hollie Whiteside won a penalty flick with a good battle against the keeper. Kayt Rayner stepped up and took the flick which resulted in a goal. Lancaster quickly reasserted their control, scoring three more goals as they maintained relentless pressure. Their forwards continued to exploit gaps in Fylde’s defence, and Fylde’s goalkeeper (Emily Byers) was left exposed on multiple occasions. Despite some individual moments of skill from Fylde, they struggled to build any sustained attacking momentum.
However the scoreline did not reflect the performance Fylde produced. The team will most certainly aim to bounce back from this tough loss in their upcoming fixtures.
Fylde 5 2-0 Southport 2
Fylde 5ths were the first on the pitch at Mill Farm for the new season and arrived with a squad of 16! We welcomed debuts from Evie Dunne, Aimee Jennings, Hattie Tollersom and Gabriella Hopley-Sherratt. After a strong team talk ahead of pushback, we expected Southport to bring experienced players which they did but we also had ours, Debbie McClelland, Heather Appleyard and Dawn Perruzza holding the defence at the back with Philippa Hancock taking charge of the goal.
The 5s began well with determination, quickly learning that our pace and passing around the opposition was going to help us succeed. Strong work between the midfielders, Aimee Jennings, Sara Jane Tomlinson, Alys Williams and Sophia Melling consistently pushed the ball up the pitch to the waiting forwards. We started to dominate quite early on but despite good chances in the circle, Southport’s keeper did a good job of keeping us from a goal. We won quite a number of penalty corners but Southport defended well. Southport are known for their ability to send a ball well down the pitch and on the odd occasion they did break through the mids to launch an attack on goal. Luckily, we had Leah Richmond, Grace Lord and Evie Dunne chasing back to support the central defence and some great saves from Philippa kept us level. Again and again, we drove the ball up the wings, some excellent teamwork from Tilly Tomlinson and Sara provided opportunities in the circle and a lovely reverse hit from Hollie Guthrie landed us our first goal.
Whilst all this was going on, a special mention must be made to Fran Loffler-Thompson for managing all the subs and coaching from the sideline. The half time talk including some calming measures from the umpires as it had become a little heated as Southport were becoming frustrated.
Restarting for the second half felt positive and we felt good as a team! The 5s went from strength to strength in the second half as confidence soared and Southport’s straight 11 became tired and frustrated. Hattie Tollerson worked hard as centre forward, bringing the ball into the circle and supporting the younger players on the front line. We won several more short corners and whilst we came close, the goal still eluded us. Hollie Guthrie landed a second goal which gave us a comfortable lead. Gabriella Hopley-Sherratt had a very close miss on a deflection on the post which she was unfortunate not to score. We pushed to the end and so did Southport. They sprung to life in the final minutes and Fylde had to work hard to protect the goal and our winning scoreline which we achieved.
An excellent start to the season and very enjoyable game.
Leyland & Chorley Development 1-7 Fylde 1
Fylde’s Men return to Division 4 as a full team playing for points, after a season playing as a development team, ironically started with a game against Leyland & Chorley’s Development team and so no points were on offer. However that didn’t stop Fylde taking it seriously and scoring 7 goals in a comprehensive victory. Even with a couple of late drop-outs, Fylde were able to take 14 men and boys to Walton-le-Dale, temporarily Leyland’s home pitch whilst their usual one undergoes repairs, and the old home of Brookfield who no longer run a men’s side.
It didn’t take long for Phil Hope to start the scoring for Fylde, and take a headstart in the race to be the club’s the top scorer (again), after a pass from Ollie Holmes. He also scored the second from a short corner, and his teenage son Luke Hitchin scored a third before half-time with a straight strike when left with space at the top of the D.
The scoreline could have been 4-0 at half-time, with a penalty stroke awarded to Fylde after a short corner hit a foot on the line, but unfortunately Jay Mayne’s stick had other ideas, impersonating Chris Waddle with a penalty flick that flew several feet over the top of the goal.
Captain Richard Clarke did make it 4-0 early in the second half, before Leyland managed to snatch a goal on a rare attack. Fylde continued pressurising with Luke Hitchen grabbing a second from an unstoppable reverse stick shot.
The other Fylde youngsters contributed throughout, with Oli Adewale attacking from wide, and both Ed Jefferson & Charlie Oliver assisting as wing-backs. Will van Rijn made his debut, under the development team rules, and was unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions. However his Dad Tim van Rijn did score Fylde’s penultimate goal at a short corner, and the seventh goal went to Jay Mayne with a well struck reverse shot from a tight angle.
A great start to the season but tougher challenges lie ahead. The man of the match vote seemed to involve the names of half the team, but Will van Rijn may just have edged it.
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