Junior League 10: Limavady 0-1 Donaghadee 2s

In the only match for Donaghadee Ladies Hockey Club last weekend, the mighty 2XI travelled to Limavady Grammar School in what turned out to be a very evenly matched contest.

Limavady were quick off the mark and set the early pace for the game, but great work by the Dee defence of Floss Patton, Lisa Higgins, Suzie Ferguson and Row Moore kept them away from Janice Mcveigh’s goal.

As Donaghadee started to get a bit of a foothold in the game, the midfield won a number of battles and they created some dangerous chances of their own, the best of those coming just a couple of minutes before the break when Erin Hamilton came in from the right and hit a strong shot only for the home keeper to make the save.

The second quarter was much more even; with both sides breaking quickly there were lots of counter attacking opportunities at both ends, but between good defensive work and a couple of saves from both sides the match remained scoreless at halftime.

The third quarter saw Donaghadee growing in confidence as they began to create the better chances – strong runs from Emily Morris and Kerrie Turtle threatened the Limavady goal and Nicola Patton causing lots of disruption up front!

Erin came close again with a fierce shot heading towards the top corner, only to be thwarted by a great save from the home keeper. Faith McMillen and Caroline Davison were dominating the midfield and with Lisa Higgins running through from the back a number of great chances were created, however none were successfully converted. 

Donaghadee then had to work hard when the young Limavady squad raced forward but Dee keeper Janice was on her toes as the shots came in: still no score.

In the final quarter Donaghadee created a couple of early chances with Kerrie and Emily again combining but down the other end again, Limavady created a spell of pressure of their own, winning a succession of penalty corners, forcing one superb save from Janice to turn the ball onto the post to be cleared to safety by Lisa.

Donaghadee then got back on the front foot and created a string of chances of their wn, but time was running out and still the goal eluded everyone.

With just under 5 minutes remaining the ball was picked up at the 23 by Faith and as she ran into the attacking circle, the defence opened up in front of her and she took the opportunity with a reverse shot to give Donaghadee the lead – and the win. 

The goal was all the more remarkable as Faith is usually to be found in the circle at the other end as one of Donaghadee’s goalkeepers! Indeed it was quite the day for the Dee keepers. With the squad light this week, Nicola Patton joined the outfield ranks to bolster the numbers, so quite the showing from the number ones this week: three of them on the pitch at the same time and one scoring the winning goal – surely some sort of record? Keep ‘er lit!

This Saturday sees a double header at home with the 1XI back in action against Cookstown while the 2s play Larne, pass back at 2:30pm.

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