Junior 9A: Dromore 4-0 DLHC 2XI
With no match for the 1XI of Donaghadee LHC this weekend, the 2s were the only team in action on Saturday. They were faced with the daunting prospect of an away match to league leaders Dromore, who were not only unbeaten so far this season but were yet to concede a goal.

And it was easy to see why:  they were quickly on the attack from the first whistle, and opened the scoring in the fourth minute with a precision shot, after a swift build-up drew the Dee defenders out of position.

Donaghadee gave themselves a mental shake and regrouped; a quick counter-attack saw Katie McKee released down the right hand wing and provide sister Molly with the Dee’s first opportunity on goal, but her shot slid just wide of the left post.

Although both teams kept up the pace, with shots and penalty corners at both ends, the home team were more fluent in attack. In the final minute of the quarter, a Dromore corner drew a good save from Faith McMillen in the Dee goal, but her team-mates couldn’t clear cleanly and Dromore forced a second goal from the resulting scramble.

Quarter two was Donaghadee’s best, with the midfield linking well with the forward line who threatened on a number of occasions, although the only clear cut chance saw another shot from Molly saved by the keeper. In defence, there was still plenty of work for the back four, but they were able to restrict the home side to only one shot on target, and it remained 2-0 at half-time.

Quarters 3 and 4 followed a similar pattern, with waves of home attacks putting the Dee under considerable pressure. Faced with a number of penalty corners, captain Floss Patton was quickly out to close down each time, but once again Dromore reacted quickly to a rebound from one of the PCs, and lifted the ball high into the net to make it 3-0. 

Still the Dee kept pressing, with some great runs down the left wing from Molly, but the penalty corner she won was saved by the Dromore keeper, who a few minutes later did the same to a shot from Katie. Encouraged by this flurry of attacking play, the Dee defence and midfield pressed forward, but it was ultimately to their cost as another swift counter-attack got through the defence and scored Dromore’s fourth of the afternoon at the end of Q3. 

The fourth quarter started with Coach Willie’s exhortations to “win this quarter” ringing in the team’s ears, and whilst they couldn’t quite do that, they did at least draw it 0-0, which was no mean feat considering the pressure they came under. 4-0 the final score, with Dromore showing why they are top of the league and still to concede. 

There were some bright spots in the day for the Dee girls, in particular goalie Faith’s spectacular circus somersaults! Row Moore and Lisa Higgins were voted joint star players by their team-mates this week. Many thanks to Nicola Patton for kindly umpiring once again, but please could you leave that rain cloud at home next time? The Seconds are away again this week, as they travel to Newry on Friday night.

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