An away defeat for the Ladies 1s but still remain 2nd in Conference North, and an unlucky home defeat for the Over 35's in their National Cup knockout game.
Durham University 2 2-0 Fylde 1
On Saturday the Ladies 1st team travelled to Durham for what is always a difficult away fixture. An early 12pm push back meant it was an early start with a 2.5 hour journey for most.
Fylde piled the pressure on in the first 5 minutes, hitting the post and nearly scoring on two different occasions. Had we found the back of the net then, the game may have gone a different way but unfortunately it wasn't our day. Durham steadied themselves and once they got possession they started to cause lots of problems for Fylde. It felt like it was only a matter of time before their pressure would result in goal, and that goal came in the second quarter when Fylde gave the ball away cheaply down the left and Durham made us pay.
Fylde struggled to connect in the final third and another Durham turnover led to a 2nd Durham goal in the 3rd quarter. Fylde weren't without possession, but couldn't use it to create anything to threaten the Durham goal, and unfortunately the game ended 2-0 to Durham.
Not a great performance this week, but results elsewhere went in our favour and we still sit in 2nd place in the table. Player of the match went to Katie Barker, who made some excellent saves to keep us in the game.
Didsbury Greys 1 0-0 Fylde 2
After a tough week of illness striking the squad, we were up for the battle at the Armitage Centre. After a slightly chaotic first half with a handful of breaks at both ends, neither team capitalised on any of their chances.
With some positive positional adjustments, Fylde emerged as the stronger team in the second half and connections improved. Progressing especially well down the left hand side with Ruby Cosgrove causing all sorts of problems for the Didsbury midfield. As the half went on, Fylde were able to find more passes and use space much more effectively.
There were some stand out flashes of Fylde excellence, particularly when Amelia Hatton powered through from the halfway line. She attacked with skill and pace but unfortunately wasn’t able to connect with her final strike.
The defence stood strong in final five minutes of the match with a string of short corners to face before the whistle. The back line weathered this and and kept a clean sheet.
All in all, a well-battled and well-deserved point for all.
Penrith 1 3-0 Fylde 3
Fylde Ladies 3's travelled to play Penrith 1's on Saturday with a depleted squad of 11 players. With Fylde 1's travelling to the North East and Fylde 2's in Manchester,
squads were stretched!
Penrith, 2nd in the table, had a full bench of players and as Fylde tired in the second half, goals were conceded in a 3-0 defeat.
Fylde 3's are holding their own being the highest club 3rd team in the area playing against experienced club 1st teams, and two 2nd teams. In 9th position (of 12), points are precious as they strive to stay in Division 2 North.
Fylde 4 2-1 Garstang 4
Our previous meeting with Garstang resulted in a draw so Fylde 4s were wary that Garstang would present a challenge. Starting with first pushback Fylde got to work, and with probably the fastest goal yet, Lucy Whiteside scored with about 2 minutes.
This pumped us up, but in fairness, something wasn’t gelling this week. Garstang did offer up the challenge we expected and despite working hard, it felt very challenging! Garstang won a short corner and executed a simple, effective routine to even the scoreline. Lauren Perkin and Megan Eccles worked tirelessly in defence to keep Garstang from the circle to prevent any further shots.
Half time brought discussions about what we needed to change and a whole new plan in our back pocket should we need it. We didn’t need it, the structure solidified in the second half and Fylde began to play their game, not Garstang’s. A number of short corners were won by Fylde and following a great injection, Melissa Johnson Parker then moved to the post to deflect the ball into the net.
Garstang continued to press and we fought to keep ahead until the final whistle, ending in a coveted 3 points.
Windermere 1 2-0 Fylde 4 (Sunday)
Fylde travelled to Windermere on the 3rd attempt at an away match! Luckily the weather conditions were not bad at all and we arrived with a squad of 15. A Sunday fixture meant a lower number of core players available and we were pleased to have reinforcements join us from the 5s. With Windermere being a 1st team and directly beneath us in the table, this was going to be a tough game. And it was. Windermere were made up of a strong team of young adults, not a structure we’ve come up against much in our division.
The first half showed Windermere were taking no prisoners as they attacked with physicality and pace. Whilst Fran Loffler-Thompson and Katie Leil worked hard in defence, Fylde struggled to pull together in the middle to prevent the attacks coming down the centre. The umpires decisions started to grate and it felt as though every decision went the other way. This made it hard to get going with the ball and find our form. Issy Gut made good runs but found herself regularly blocked by two or three Windermere players. Windermere scored their first and shortly after, Ellie Hope sent a ball to Hollie Twose on the post which she deflected in, however the umpire ruled this was a reverse stick so disallowed the goal.
Half time brought some respite and a chance to calm our frustrations. Fylde did struggle to find their formation and we weren’t pressing as hard as we have come to expect. Windermere were fairly relentless, the ball seemed to travel the length of the pitch and back again every couple of minutes so exhaustion was setting in. Windermere scored their second from a short corner however Fylde did defend a number of corners in both halves and did a great job of getting the ball out of trouble. Philippa Hancock was spectacular in goal throughout and earned the praise of the umpires for her efforts.
A final push saw Fylde make huge progress in the dying minutes, even getting a short corner as for the very first time all game, the ball hit a Windermere foot. Despite some good chances made by Megan Hartley-Smith and Tilly Tomlinson, Fylde weren’t going to score any goals today.
Only our second loss of the season but it felt like a hard one. Lots to take away and some great learning opportunities. Thank you to Philippa Hancock, Olivia Hartley-Smith, Megan Hartley-Smith, Tilly Tomlinson and Hermione Edwards for stepping up and meeting what turned out to be a very big challenge!
Fylde 5 4-1 Lancaster & Morecambe 2
Captain Debbie McClelland was keen for a win this week and as the sole playing adult she had recruited Aimee Perruzza as team coach and Dawn Perruzza as team manager to help on the sideline. The girls organised their own warm up drills and started the game confidently.
The first goal came from a great drive down the right by Hermione Edwards and a strong cross which was deflected in by a defender. Morecambe came back quickly and when Debbie tried to intercept a ball coming across from the left she sadly deflected it into the stick of the opponent and Morecambe equalised. The game was end to end with some excellent defending, good distribution and some of the best passing and connecting play we have seen all season. Sophia Melling took Fylde back into the lead with a great goal from the left to end the half 2-1 up.
A collaborative team talk and we started the second half as if it was 0-0 as there was no room for complacency. Fylde were relentless in their attacking play and Camilla Wyles was determined to score with a tomahawk. Finally she found the back board with a perfectly placed tomahawk in the opposite bottom corner of the goal.
Camilla then made it a brace with a confident hard hit on target and at 4-1 Fylde took home a well deserved 3 points to start what they hope to be a winning streak as they fight to save the team from relegation.
Final score Fylde 4 - Lancaster and Morecambe 1.
Win as a team lose as a team.
Garstang Development 1-2 Fylde Men
Fylde Men had the rare issue of having more players available than we could take. With plenty of the subs eager to get on the pitch, the team talk was centred around plenty of movement and maximum work rate, with constant rotations.
As being typical with an afternoon match, the pushback was delayed by half an hour. Both teams started enthusiastically, with Fylde pushing high to keep the ball in Garstang’s half. However Garstang managed a couple of quick breaks to test Fylde’s defence, with one break coming from their centre back who threw an aerial into our 23, where their striker had run free of the defender, going one on one with our keeper for the third time. Unfortunately it was third time lucky for Garstang and they took the lead.
Fylde came together to regroup and with fresh legs subbing on to give a boost, Fylde’s composure improved, leading to multiple chances. Newcomer Jack Jones made some excellent runs in attack coming so close to scoring on his debut. Craig Tilley's aerial was picked out the air at the top of the D by captain Richard Clarke, who played a through ball, just a second too early for the deflection.
Phil Hope scored with another trademark diving slap to make it 1-1 just before half time.
The second half started with Fylde aiming to start strong and put Garstang on the back foot. Many attacking attempts ending up trying to be forced through leading to Garstang making multiple interceptions. Eventually a successful attack lead to Phil Hope scoring from picking up the ball from a the left side of the circle with his back to goal, turning and smashed the ball into the bottom corner. Both goals assisted by his son Luke Hitchen.
The last 15 minutes the composure was lacking making the game harder than it should have been. Garstang won a short, with a drag flick going towards the net. Garstang's flicker had already turned to celebrate, not expecting Stan Morrison to have deflected the ball over the goal.
The final whistle couldn’t come soon enough, and Fylde Men had earned a hard fought 2-1 win.
MoM went to Manny Elleray, who playing in only his second ever adult's match at the age of 12 showed great qualities down the right of the pitch, tackling players twice his size with good composer on the ball when under pressure from the opposition.
Fylde O35 2-3 Lymm O35 (Sunday)
With some familiar 'old' faces joining current players from the 1st-6th team, Fylde came out ready to face Lymm on a very windy Sunday.
After an initial unsettled few minutes, Fylde took control of the game and dominated their opponents. With 10 minutes gone, Fylde won their first short corner but couldn't put the ball away. There were another 8 penalty corners awarded to Fylde within the first half, but despite repeated pressure and the ball barely leaving our attacking half, we were unable to convert our many, many chances.
Vicky Rukin held the middle steady and made a series of tackles from the floor to keep the ball in Fylde's attacking half and it was a full 30 minutes before the Fylde GK, Karen Wells, had her first touch of the game. Fylde finally took a well deserved goal with some lovely linking play from Leanne Sharples to Cathy Fewson-Reeve who slotted the ball in the back of the net to start the score sheet!
A half time talk around the importance of transferring the ball out the congested attacking half saw Fylde come out strong once again with goal opportunities coming thick and fast. A deflected shot from Michelle Longton bounced back off the post and many more saves were made by the very competent Lymm goalkeeper.
A rare and quick break from Lymm led to them firing an excellently placed shot past Fylde to make it 1-1. Fylde got fired up and Kelly Windows stormed through the field with enormous skill to place a well struck shot from the edge of the D to put Fylde ahead again.
Lymm quickly bounced back on a quick break and there was a very contentious second goal scored by them, with a little help from a bemused Lucy Partington! Lymm found themselves with another chance and put away a beautifully executed reverse stick shot to put Fylde 3-2 down.
Despite a frantic last 10 minutes of Fylde once again dominating the game, we could not put away our many chances and were very unlucky to lose the match 3-2.
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