Senior League 3: Newry 0-2 DLHC 1XI
Having just reached the half way point in the 23/24 league programme, things are tight in the top half of Senior 3, with a number of teams jockeying for position in the second to sixth spots and Donaghadee occupying third.

The team set off for Newry to play in the Friday night match knowing that a good result would help keep them right in the mix as the season trundles on. An excellent first quarter saw Donaghadee pile plenty of pressure on the home side with Carolyn Scott opening the scoring midway through; an unstoppable shot from wide right flew past the Newry keeper into the bottom left corner to give Donaghadee the lead.

The second quarter was a much more even affair with the home team taking advantage of the slow pitch to thwart Donaghadee’s attacks and set up their own attempts, threatening the Dee circle from both flanks, but without making any inroad into changing the score line.

With the sluggish second quarter out of the way, Donaghadee once again proved threatening in attack but the Newry goalkeeper was in excellent form, making a number of vital saves to keep the score line down. Donaghadee doubled their lead in the final quarter with the ball having slipped between keeper and defender to leave Jordan McWilliams a straightforward tap in at the back post and give Donaghadee the victory and another valuable 3 points.

Well done to Star Player Jess Moore and thanks to Willie McAdam for umpiring. Next up is an away trip to the Dub on Saturday when the Firsts take on KV in the game scheduled to pass back at 4.15pm.

Junior League 9A: South Antrim 1-1 DLHC 2XI
With further injuries impacting the players available, Donaghadee 2s headed to Lisburn to play South Antrim 6s on Saturday afternoon.

Right from the start, the front line of Molly McKee, Katie McKee and Dawn McDonald were causing problems for the home side with wave after wave of attacks. Backed up by Anna Aitken & Erin Hamilton most of the play was in South Antrim’s half of the pitch. Two good runs from Molly both saw the final pass just evade her partners sticks. A couple of penalty corners were saved and as the quarter ended it was still scoreless.

The quarter time talk from coach Willie McAdam and captain Erin motivated the team and quarter two started in similar attacking vein. Only a couple of minutes had gone when Molly raced into the circle to meet the ball and sweep it through the keeper into the net and give Donaghadee a well deserved lead.

The goal seemed to fire the home team into life and for the remainder of the quarter Dee struggled to get out of their half. South Antrim pushed down both sides but great work from Caroline Davison, Row Moore and Claire Horne in particular, kept them away from the goal. As the minutes counted down, a move down the left saw the ball switched to centre and a run into the circle with a shot from top right drew the home side level at half-time.

Quarter three saw a return to the dominance of Donaghadee, with Lauren Niblock moving to left midfield helping switch the ball down the line to Molly who continued to harass the home defence. One run from Row Moore at the back saw her pick the ball up at her own 23, keep pressing forward to finally reach the opposite circle, where unfortunately the final pass ran wide. The home defence was ferociously combative, with a couple of their players sustaining injuries in their efforts to keep Donaghadee at bay! With five minutes left in the quarter however the Dee lost Laura Hamilton as she took unwell.

The final quarter saw lots of pressure from the visitors but again no reward. At the other end South Antrim were also held off by theDonaghadee defence, thanks to Erin moving back into Laura’s position, Abbie Brown on the right and our keeper Faith McMullan. The final whistle blew with a 1-1 draw the final outcome.

In a game where a number of players had to play in different positions, it was a good effort but the players felt they could have had more on the scoreboard. So plenty of positives, and also lots to work on at training on Wednesday evening.

Big Thanks to Nicola Patton for umpiring, and this week’s star player was Lauren Niblock who is growing in skills and confidence every week.  

The next match is Saturday 10th Feb 24 at home to Ballynahinch, pass back 1pm at BGS.