Senior 2: DLHC 1XI 2-1 NICS
Donaghadee Ladies 1XI went into their penultimate clash of the season against Civil Service at home on Saturday knowing exactly what was on the line: a victory would guarantee their spot in Senior 2 for next year.
Rising to the occasion, the team delivered a composed performance to secure the win and give departing coach Willie McAdam a perfect send-off for the last home game of the season.
From the first whistle, Donaghadee took control of the game, applying relentless pressure and dictating the pace. Their dominance in the attacking quarter soon paid off during a well-worked penalty corner. A deflected shot was heading for the back of the net before it was illegally stopped on the line by a Civil Service defender.
The umpire had no hesitation in pointing to the spot to award a penalty stroke. Up stepped newbie Rachelle Pearson, who showed no nerves to calmly convert, marking her very first goal for the club and giving Donaghadee a well-deserved lead.
To their credit, Civil Service fought their way back into the match and managed to find an equaliser against the run of play, threatening to spoil the party.
However, Donaghadee heads didn’t drop. They continued to press for the winner, and their determination was rewarded with a moment of individual skill. Kerry found herself in space and unleashed a fierce reverse stick shot. The visiting goalkeeper managed to get a stick to it, but the power of the strike was simply too much, parrying the ball up and into the top corner of the net to restore Donaghadee’s lead.
The squad held their nerve for the remainder of the game, putting in a gritty and unified shift to see out the victory. The final whistle brought relief, with the team securing their hard-fought Senior 2 status with one game remaining – no mean feat given the run of injuries and unavailability of numerous players since Christmas.
Thanks to the two Ulster Hockey umpires and to NI Building Surveys for sponsoring the match ball.
The team has one more league match to go, with a trip to Limavady scheduled for Saturday 11th April.
Junior 10: DLHC 2XI 1-1 Limavady
On Saturday, Donaghadee 2s played their final game of the season at home to league winners Limavady.
The girls were determined to finish the season on a good note to say a final goodbye to Coach Willie McAdam.
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, Angela Parker and Lauren Niblock kept them away from Faith McMillen’s goal.
As Donaghadee started to get a bit of a foothold in the game, Caroline Davison and Joey Patton were winning balls in the midfield and they created some beautiful attacking play of their own, sending Erin Hamilton off on plenty of runs up the right wing. Emily Morris was working hard on the opposite wing, winding her way through the defenders to get the ball forward for Kerrie Turtle and Vicky O’Neill.
The second quarter was end to end and 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 the goalkeepers, the match remained scoreless at halftime.
The third quarter saw a number of Limavady penalty corners but the Dee were holding their own and a few goal line saves were pulled off to keep them out. Unfortunately, one of the PCs was eventually converted and the scoreline was 1-0 to the away team.
However, Donaghadee were growing in confidence as they began to create more chances with Joey, Erin and Row Moore making strong runs to find Emily and Kerrie who were unlucky not to find the back of the net.
Into the last quarter and Kerrie came close again with her shot only being saved narrowly by the Limavady keeper.
At the other end, Megan Inglis was dominating in the defence, cutting out any chances that were racing her way and Faith was on hand to clear away any balls that were sneaking goalward.
In the final minutes of the game, Donaghadee were awarded a penalty corner which was injected by Emily to an awaiting Megan at the top of the circle. Megan’s shot was saved but it was cleared out to the left of the circle where Vicky was waiting, and much to the delight of her teammates and support on the sidelines, she fired home to bring the scoreline to 1-1.
The match ended a well deserved draw. It was a star performance from the whole team and thanks goes to Mike Smyth for umpiring, and to Elevate Storage Solutions for sponsoring the match ball.
And finally, a massive thank you to Willie from the whole team for his side-line presence one last time, with the 2XI have now completed their league games for the season.
Sponsor Shoutouts
We are delighted that the following players from Saturday’s matches are being individually sponsored. If you would like to sponsor your favourite player, please speak to them directly or email us at dlhc@hotmail.co.uk. View all sponsored players here
Dates for the Diary
Wednesday 8th April – training match against Ulster O45s as the Ulster team continues their preparation for the Interpros tournament at the end of April
Wednesday 14th April – return of Walking Hockey. Check out the club’s socials for further info
Saturday 16th May – End of Season Do for all club members
Sunday 31st May – return of the annual Stick It To Cancer Sixes tournament. Places limited so contact the club to reserve your team’s spot ASAP
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