Fylde coast hockey round-up: Blackpool, Lytham St Annes, Rossall

Rossall Ladies are top of Lancashire Central division one after their 2-1 victory over Fylde 3.

From the beginning of the first half both defences dominated play with Clare Turner solid in the Rossall goal.

Fylde Ladies, who statistically have the best defence in the league, lived up to their reputation by defending three penalty corners as half-time was reached with the teams deadlocked .

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Three minutes into the second half and Fylde Ladies opened the Rossall defence to score from close range .

Rossall immediately began to fight back with Alex Holden, Tracey Housley, Nicola Rogerson and Elizabeth Hall making determined inroads into the Fylde defence .

Rossall equalised midway through the second half, Lucia Stefani converting a Rogerson cross.

In the closing minutes of the game, Rossall forced a penalty corner which ended with Sam Evans’ pass finding the unmarked Hall for the winning goal. It was Heidi Williams who opened the scoring with a fantastic effort as she fiercely took on the keeper and battled to force the ball over the line.

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Lytham Ladies emerged worthy 4-2 winners at Formby, where Georgina Read and Georgia Perkins had early efforts on goal.

It was Heidi Williams who opened the scoring with a fantastic effort as she fiercely took on the keeper and battled to force the ball over the line.

Early in the second half, Lytham won a penalty corner and Gilly Shields and Williams’ one-two ended with Shields nailing the ball between the keeper’s pads.

Formby won a penalty corner on the break and were next to score with a straight strike, making it 2-1.

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At the other end, Lytham were busy again, with a good run of passes through midfield, leading to Shields’ shot helped on its way into the net by a perfectly positioned Perkins.

Formby broke again soon after and Lytham found themselves on the receiving end of a penalty stroke decision, which Formby scored to bring the game back to 3-2.

With 10 minutes to go, Lytham just had to hang onto the lead and make sure they were solid at the back.

They went one better than that, with some more brilliant passing play leading to Livvy Hawtin’s perfectly timed shot whizzing past the keeper to give Lytham a much safer cushion.

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The seconds lost 6-2 to Windermere Ladies’s first team despite a bright start, which saw Katie Warren and Jasmine Tang make excellent drives down the wings.

Windermere were fast on the break and scored a couple of quick goals before Jasmine Wright pulled once back and added a second from a penalty corner routine.

Windermere upped the intensity in the second half and capitalised on a run of short corners from some defensive errors to bring their tally to six.

With a shortage of players due to illness, the thirds were 5-2 winners at Blackburn and Clitheroe despite only having 10 players.

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They were caught out by two sloppy goals within the first 10 minutes, after which keeper Bryony Brown foiled any plans for further goals.

A great strike from Lauren Gibbons, expertly deflected into the net by Molly Turpie, gave Lytham the breakthrough and some hope.

The second half saw Blackburn and Clitheroe’s defence drop off as they found it difficult to intercept Lytham’s well-timed runs down the wing and driving play.

Lytham scored four further goals, two from short corners, as Turpie claimed two more, while Gibbons and Amy Collings scored one each.

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Blackpool’s new formation proved to be a winner as they won 4-0 at Lancaster and Morecambe

Jade Yarwood scored first for Blackpool and soon all the pressure was on Morecambe’s defence as Blackpool dominated – but were unable to convert many chances.

Yarwood again scored from a beautifully hit strike via a penalty corner in the second half before keeper Sandra Wood saved a Lancaster and Morecambe penalty flick.

Amy Partington scored Blackpool’s third goal, while Yarwood completed the scoring wuith her hat-trick goal.

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Blackpool seconds suffered a 10-1 defeat at the hands of league leaders Brookfield at Stanley Park.

Blackpool just had 11 players but, with some good defence from Debs Hilier, Heather Leonard and Vicky Hives and some great saves from goalkeeper Sally Wilson, they kept the score low at half-time

Brookfield Ladies had a run of short corners but only two goals were scored from them.

Blackpool worked hard to keep the goals away, but just before half-time, Brookfield Ladies scored a great goal to make it 6-0 at the break.

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Blackpool had a much better second half and it wasn’t long before they scored a goal with a fantastic individual run from the centre of the pitch seeing Imogen Wills finding the net.

Having switched around during half-time, Blackpool strengthened their defence with debut keeper Wilson making save after save.

However, Brookfield continued to score goal after goal, despite some strong defending from Hilier, Zoe Wardman and Vicky Hives.

Garstang Ladies’ firsts were 5-0 winners against Longridge as Rebecca Worthington, Lily Helme, Gemma Trickett, Lyndsey Hayes and Alice Marsden scored their goals.

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Blackpool Men’s fixture at Southport was postponed after a freak hail storm two minutes before the start time left the pitch unplayable.

In contrast, blue skies and a fresh wind greeted the clubs’ second teams at Stanley Park, where Blackpool were disappointed with a 2-2 draw against the bottom club

Blackpool started off the stronger side but with very little to show for it despite Ollie Thomlinson, Will Pickles and Harrison Stott playing well with quick, intelligent passing.

However, it was Southport who turned the tide with a period of pressure testing the defence.

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They took the lead when a hopeful long ball ricocheted off a Southport stick to the lone striker, who scored from the right-hand side.

The second half was a different game altogether.

Right from the off, Blackpool played with a renewed vigour as Rob Pasqualino linked up well to allow Niall Bancroft a shot on target.

This vein continued with man of the match Adam George coming close on a number of occasions.

A penalty flick was awarded when a defender was judged to have pushed the ball off the line with his hand, Andy Mortimer stepping up to level the scores.

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Keeper Graeme Kilshaw had very little to do; however he made the requisite saves when tested to keep Blackpool in the game.

Further pressure on the Southport defence led to an excellent individual goal by Chris Hocking to put Blackpool ahead.

Southport had nothing to lose and pressed forward with minutes on the clock.

A flurry of activity in Blackpool’s ‘D’ led to a short corner to the visitors who scored with seconds left to make the final score 2-2.

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Blackpool’s thirds somehow managed to lose 4-0 against Wigan despite having plenty of possession and numerous chances to score.

Wigan had their share of possession but the Blackpool defenders were working well together.

That was until a rare attack down the right wing led to a Wigan player entering the ‘D’ and crossing the ball across the goal face, where it hit Pete Latimer’s foot and deflected up into the goal.

Blackpool weren’t worried at half-time and felt confident that they would score if they remained patient.

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However it was Wigan who came out faster after the break, causing problems in Blackpool’s defence. Before they knew it they had conceded again.

Blackpool won several short corners, but weren’t able to convert any of them.

As time wore on, Blackpool started to push up from the back in search of a goal.

Wigan took advantage and scored a third with a counter attack, and then to add insult to injury they also managed a fourth in a well worked move.

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It was a match to forget as Blackpool move on to next week’s game against local rivals Preston.

Lytham St Annes Men produced a lacklustre performance to go down 6-2 to Colwyn Bay.

Despite some occasional glimpses of controlled passing, even the best efforts of man-of-the-match, Toby McPhee, and goals from Gaz Sym and Neil Mallalieu made little impact on the outcome.

LSA seconds’ match at Liverpool was called off due to the weather, while the thirds were also beaten, losing 2-0 against Lancaster and Morecambe.

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This was a fast, competitive game won by two early goals from Lancaster.

They scored after 10 and 20 minutes to secure a 2-0 lead at half-time.

The second half was more even as Mike Baker missed a chance to narrow the gap and LSA also had a couple of short corners which they could not convert.

Steve Poole was strong in defence while Myles Child had a good game.

However, they now need a win at home to bottom club Windermere next week.

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