Fylde coast hockey review: Lytham St Annes, Blackpool, Rossall, Fylde

After Bebbington took an early lead, Lytham fought back via an equaliser from Andy Copeland.

In the second half Lytham took the lead through Gaz Sym and had chances to extend their lead.

They paid the price for not taking them as Bebbington drew level in the dying seconds.

The LSA second team won 4-3 against Blackpool II.

They went 3-0 up with goals by Will Stone and Ryan Aldred, who claimed a second at the start of the second half.

Blackpool hit back with three goals without reply, but LSA held on, while the thirds drew 0-0 with Preston IV.

Lytham ladies scored a fine 4-1 win at Preston.

Georgina Read opened the scoring with a superbly taken shot at close range before Preston levelled by half-time.

In the second half Jenni Rawlinson pounced in the ‘D’ and swept the ball in perfectly, giving Lytham the lead.

Next Georgia Perkins converted well to take the score to 3-1.

Lytham spent the final minutes battering the Preston defence before Perkins grabbed the clincher.

Lytham ladies’ second team lost 3-0 to Lancaster and Morecambe.

It was hard for Lytham to raise a team, and with no substitutes either, they tired in the second half.

Despite Lytham’s best efforts Lancaster and Morecambe scored two rapid-fire goals.

It was evenly contested for a spell after that, but Tia Pumphrey went off injured, leaving Lytham with 10 players for a period.

Lancashire and Morecambe got a third goal, despite a spirited last quarter from Lytham.

The Lytham ladies’ second won 2-0 at Lancaster Nomads.

Maisie Rogers was in good form in the Lytham goal, managing to keep a clean sheet.

Lytham took control and Tasha Webster put her side in front seconds before half-time.

In the second half, Lancaster upped their game, marking closely and stopping a lot of the runs.

Despite failing to convert from their penalty corners, Lytham finally went in front.

After a run from the right, Lauren Gibbons scored under the Lancaster keeper.

This meant that by now Lytham were firmly in command right up to the whistle to claim a much-deserved win.

Blackpool Ladies’ seconds lost 1-0 against Garstang.

Keeper Becky Meadowcroft nearly missed the start of the match but made up for it with a player-of-the-match performance.

Garstang shot out of the blocks and scored from their first attack.

Despite Garstang having most of the attacking play they were unable to score again thanks to some outstanding saves from Meadowcroft, while Anya Peers and Abbie Singleton impressed on debut.

An under-strength Blackpool side couldn’t keep pace with their hosts as they lost 4-0 at Knutsford’s firsts.

The bare eleven tried to nullify the aerial threat from the Knutsford defence, but some well worked moves and quick ball pace allowed the home side to dominate the opening exchanges.

Blackpool looked dangerous on the counter, but it was to be their undoing as Knutsford took the lead after picking a hole in the Blackpool backline.

This seemed to spark Blackpool into action, and for the next 10 minutes, they had the better of the opportunities.

The ball fell perfectly to Sam Bury after some great link-up play from Harrison Stott, Jordan Payne and Steve Whitley, but he could only skew wide.

Blackpool failed to convert from a series of penalty corners which included the umpire turning down a potential penalty stroke.

From here Knutsford regained control as their skipper showed how to make the most of a penalty corner with an excellent finish.

The second half was scrappy with neither side impressing on the ball.

This suited the home side fine as Blackpool struggled to find a goal to bring them back into the match.

Both sides continued to concede penalty corners but the chances weren’t taken.

Blackpool threw men forward with 15 minutes left, but the pacy Knutsford front line was quick to capitalise as two further goals put the game to bed.

The thirds were beaten 6-1 by Lancaster and Morecambe.

Blackpool conceded two early goals through good running, passing and precision shooting.

Lancaster scored the next goal after half-time before Blackpool pulled one back through Kieran Armstrong.

Blackpool kept trying, but Lancaster and Morecambe were just too good and ended worthy winners.

Rossall Ladies were edged out 3-2 at Pendle.

A Rossall side without substitutes fell behind early but fought back as Sam Evans made it 1-1 at half-time.

Rossall had more possession after making changes for the second half but Pendle broke fast to move into a 3-1 lead.

Rossall pulled one back through Lucia Stefani but couldn’t force an equaliser.

The Fylde Girls Under-18 hockey squad competed in the National Indoor Finals weekend for the first time and certainly did themselves proud.

Having qualified as the North champions in December, the team led by England Under-16s’ Rachel Greenwood, faced four teams from other regions.

The opening game against Stourport from the Midlands ended in a 3-3 draw with Fylde’s goals coming from Chris Dunn and Maddie Scullion (2).

Next up was Taunton Vale from the West and once again the team secured a draw with strikes from Scullion and Rachel Greenwood.

The following day, the squad faced South sides Canterbury and Surbiton – both previous winners of the competition.

The match against Canterbury saw Fylde put in their best performance of the weekend as they earned a 1-1 draw. Mason grabbed her first goal of the tournament with a well-executed drag flick at a short corner.

The star of the show was undoubtedly goalkeeper Freya Bennett who pulled off a string of top saves.

The final game against Surbiton was a game of two halves, with Fylde holding their own in the first half, but the eventual National Champions showed their quality after the break and won 5-0.

The Fylde team, formerly Springfield, is based at Mill Farm