Senior League 3: DLHC 1XI 1-2 Larne
When Donaghadee’s 1XI welcomed Larne to BGS in this fixture last year the girls in red and green came out on top in a very closely fought 1-0 victory and there is no doubt that this result was in Larne’s mind last Friday night when they came to play under the floodlights in Bangor.

The visitors opened strongly with several swift attacks testing the mettle of the Donaghadee defence. Despite numerous visits to the Dee defensive 25, Jan Morrow, Jodie Ingham, Sarah Hooks and Rachel Hamilton tucked in tight to limit the visitors’ opportunitites in the circle to just one on target; Dee keeper Nicola Patton was positioned well to clear the danger and keep the score at 0-0.

Donaghadee tried gamely to counter through forwards Carolyn Scott and Kerrie Turtle but there were slim pickings up front: any counter attacks were snuffed out before the Dee could create any real danger, although one super through ball from Helen Herron in midfield only just evaded the onrushing Carolyn who had bent her run round the last defender well.

Both teams were trying their utmost to break the deadlock which created a very open game with the midfielders getting through a lot of work. Chloe Ferguson and Catherine Armstrong worked tirelessly to create the openings and the second half saw the Dee begin to create a few more chances of note. The threat on goal was increasing with the Larne keeper called into action a couple of times before Captain Kerry Kennedy added to her terrific start to the season with her third goal in two games to put Donaghadee ahead.

Larne were beginning to build up a head of steam however and the pressure from a series of penatly corners eventually paid off when they converted one at the end of the third quarter to level the score.

Both teams threw everything at it in the final quarter, with much of the action happening in the middle third of the pitch as they tried to gain the ascendancy. It looked very much as though things were heading for a draw until a rebound from a late penalty corner was fired home by Larne to give the visitors the three points in a game that could so easily have ended in a draw.

With thanks to Deborah Gilmore for umpiring and Willie McAdam for coaching. The 1XI are back in action next weekend away to Ballynahinch.

Junior League 9A: DLHC 2XI 4-0 Dromore 5XI
The 2XI of Donaghadee LHC were looking forward to this game against Dromore, having got three points last week without touching a ball after Pegasus conceded the game. The Dee side came out determined to start strongly in this their first game of the season, and there was plenty of early hassle created for the visiting team’s defence. 

Within the first ten minutes of the start Row Moore scored Donaghadee’s first goal off the back of a penalty corner, firing straight into the back of the goal to make the score 1-0. The visiting team were quick to bounce back with four shots in quick succession at keeper Nicola Patton, with Nicola making two cracking saves, and defender Rachel Hamilton putting in numerous good tackles to keep the score 1-0 at the end of the quarter.

Coming into the second quarter, Dromore found themselves in the Dee circle three times only to be sent back on their way by defenders Miya Van Der Schyff, Lisa Higgins, Deborah Gilmore, and Floss Scott. Ruth Coulter was quick to pick up the balls out of defence to weave through the Dromore lines to create several really good opportunities for Donaghadee. The Dee girls had numerous chances: one shot was well saved by the Dromore keeper but two were converted beautifully by Emily Morris to make the score 3-0 at half time.

The penultimate quarter saw Donaghadee defending several penalty corners successfully as the Dee looked to keep their three goal advantage. Up top, Carmen Van Der Schyff, Caroline Davison and Chloe Ferguson found themselves making plenty of space high up the pitch to give Donaghadee three more shots at the goal, although none of theses chances were taken.

In the final quarter, Donaghadee remained dominant with Sarah Hooks tipping the ball over the line add a fourth goal to the final tally for Donaghadee.

The team would like to thank Carolyn Scott for umpiring and also thank all supporters who came out to watch the game. This week saw two Star Players with Emily Morris and Ruth Coulter winning equal votes from their team mates – congratulations to them! 

There is no 2XI game on Saturday 1^st October but the Seconds will be back in action the following week to face Banbridge 5XI away – more details to follow.

Centenary Ball Celebrations
Clandeboye Golf Club was the fine setting as players past and present, presidents and pals of DLHC donned their finery to celebrate 100 years of the club last Saturday night. The evening was opened by George Wilson, President of Ulster Hockey as he drew links and parallels between his own club Bangor and Donaghadee with both enjoying some success on the pitch and plenty of socials off it. 

He paid tribute to the early 1950s team who got the club back up and running after the war before presenting Edna Robinson – one of the members of the club in the 50s – with a silver salver on behalf of Ulster Hockey.

Current Club Captain Kerry Kennedy also spoke well, paying tribute to the stalwarts over the years who have kept the club going; where many bigger, more illustrious clubs in Belfast have merged or folded over the years, smaller clubs like Donaghadee may not make as many waves on the bigger stages, but keep flying their flags proudly. 

Master of Ceremonies for the night, Alison McNeice, was then delighted to announce that Edna Robinson had gladly acccepted the club’s invitation to become the seventh president in the club’s history, presenting Edna with a club jacket and asking her to cut the DLHC cake before concluding the official part of the evening.

One final surprise lay in store for the attendees when, over coffee, everyone was presented a copy of a commemorative publication detailing the club’s history with newspaper articles, photographs and other memorabilia from across the decades. There are still a small number of books left – please get in touch with the club if you would like to purchase one.

Proceedings continued with fabulous food and chat aplenty before rounding off with two hours of live music. All in all, a wonderful night to celebrate 100 years of Donaghadee Ladies Hockey Club!

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