Junior 9A: Randalstown 1-1 DLHC 2XI On Saturday the 2XI of Daonaghadee LHC travelled to face league leaders Randalstown at the Antrim Forum sports complex.
The first quarter started off just in time for the rain to come sideways for the first wet game of the season. The rain did not hinder Donagahdee however with Molly McKee scoring an early Donaghadee goal within the first 6 minutes.
Donagahdee defended their lead valiantly, keeping the ball away from the Dee defence for much of the remaining quarter. In the last couple of minutes just before the whistle blew to signal the end of the period, Randalstown won themselves a penalty corner. Defenders on the line Lisa Higgins, Floss Scott, Zoe Turtle and stand in defender Molly withstood the initial attack only to have the ball deflect and land in the goals for Randalstown to draw level.
The second quarter saw the same level of determination from the Dee girls with Emily Morris and Erin Hamilton working the ball seamlessly up the pitch, with one terrific pass across to Katie McKee only missing the mark by millimeters.
The second half saw the rain get heavier but it didn’t deter the team who continued to try and find their way through the home defence, unfortunately with little luck in the circle. Randalstown began to push higher with numerous mighty strikes on goal, however, Caroline Davison who had taken on the task of being keeper for the day, was able for the task, making three very good saves to keep Randalstown out.
Having survived the period of pressure, Natalie Jamieson then worked tirelessly to fire the ball from the Donaghadee defensive circle out to midfielders Row Moore and Chloe Ferguson who managed to return the pressure to Randalstown’s defence with several threatening advances on goal.
Despite an end-to-end finish to the match the final whistle blew with honours even: a very well fought 1-1 draw and a brilliant performance from all resulted in the entire team being awarded star players by coach Willie McAdam. Thank you to Kerry Kennedy for umpiring and the spectators who travelled to watch the team play. The Seconds are back in action at Bangor Grammar on Saturday 29th October to face NICS at 1pm, while the 1XI – who had a week off last week – will be looking forward to welcoming Limavady to BGS for the 2.30pm pass back.
The 1XI were delighted to welcome new Club President Edna Robinson (back row) to watch the match against Derg Valley on Saturday
Senior League 3: Donaghadee LHC 1XI 4-0 Derg Valley It’s always a pleasure to welcome the team travelling from Castlederg and despite it being a long haul for the girls from the West, it never seems to dampen their ardour with the match played in great spirits. Saturday’s contest was no exception.
Donaghadee won the toss for first pass back and were quick to exert good pressure on the visitors’ defence, the early intention setting the scene for much of the match. With Catherine Armstrong wide on the right and Helen Herron occupying the left of midfield, Donaghadee looked to spread the play as much as possible, and both these players made good inroads down the flanks.
The story of much of the first quarter was Donaghadee versus the Derg keeper, the latter pulling off some tremendous saves to keep the game scoreless as the Dee pressed forward. There started to be some joy for Captain Kerry Kennedy at the top of the circle and the space eventually told with Kerry pulling off a terrific reverse stick shot to give Donaghadee a deserved lead as the first quarter drew to a close.
Donaghadee’s second goal was almost a carbon copy: Carolyn Scott made a run to take the defenders away to create the space for Kerry to unleash her second reverse shot of the match to double Donaghadee’s lead.
With the Dee’s defence under very little pressure Jodie Ingham, Jan Morrow and Rachel McClatchey began picking off attempted through balls higher up the pitch – reducing keeper Nicola Patton to an interested spectator for spells – and the Dee dominance continued.
Not to be left out, Sarah Hooks intercepted one Derg attack just inside the defensive half and had the vision to pull off a route one counter attack that found Kerrie Turtle perfectly positioned on the back post. With the deftest of flicks Kerrie deflected the ball goalward, almost before the Derg defenders had time to react: a wonderfully instinctive finish from an excellent through ball!
After a slightly sluggish third quarter Donaghadee came back out for the final period and picked up the early tempo: Paige Reilly in particular doing well at the base of the midfield diamond to direct play and keep driving the forward momentum. In a late goalmouth scramble in which both Row Moore and Helen were unlucky not to get past the Derg keeper, Kerry was on hand to add her third and Donaghadee’s fourth to round off an excellent performance and pleasing result.
Helen was voted Star player for her tireless running in midfield and her nearly-goal, and she thanked Mike Smyth for umpiring. The 1XI are next in action away to Castle in Carrickfergus on Saturday, pass back 2.30pm.
Kerry got a hat-trick on Saturday, with Kerrie scoring the Firsts’ third goal
Junior 9A: Banbridge 2-1 Donaghadee LHC 2XI On Saturday 8th October DLHC 2s travelled to Havelock Park to face Banbridge 5s.
Donaghadee started the match really well with forwards Ruth Coulter and Leanna McGimpsey-Young keeping pressure on the opposition’s defence. Despite winning numerous penalty corners, Donaghadee could not find the back of the net, and the first quarter ended goal-less.
Coming into the second quarter defenders Miya Van Der Schyff, Deborah Gilmore, Zoe Turtle and Floss Scott found themselves surrounded by Banbridge attackers. Keeper Emma McGimpsey-Young made several excellent saves, however a strong strike from the opposition made the score 1-0 to Banbridge at the end of the first half.
The second half saw a second ball from Banbridge cross the Dee line. However midfielders Caroline Davison and Emily Morris worked the ball wonderfully through the Banbridge defence to Molly McKee who scored to pull one back for Donaghadee. 2-1 to Banbridge and all to play for!
Into the final quarter the game was fast-paced with both teams making good ground as they went in search of the next goal. Despite Carmen Van Der Schyff coming close to scoring, the Donaghadee attack just could not break past the Banbridge keeper who saved countless on target shots, both in this quarter and throughout to ensure the home side took the three points with the final score 2-1 to Banbridge.
This week’s Star Player was joint with Emily Morris and Molly McKee both earning the votes of their team mates. Thank you to Banbridge for providing umpires and thank you to all the players and supported who travelled to Banbridge. The 2s are back on Saturday at 1pm to face South Antrim 4s at Bangor Grammar. All support is welcome.
Molly was on the score sheet for the 2XI against Banbridge
Senior League 3: Ballynahinch 2-2 DLHC 1XI With Donaghadee’s 2XI having no match due to the withdrawal of Castle 4XI from Junior 9A, the 1XI were able to travel to Ballynahinch with a full squad last Saturday and it was also terrific to see Leanna McGimpsey-Young back in red and green after a spell away from the pitch due to injury.
The two teams are sitting side by side mid-table in Senior 3 and there was little between them for long spells of this match. Paige Reilly was back from holiday to bolster the defence and indeed the Dee rear guard were called into action straight from the first whistle when Ballynahinch mounted an early attack to earn a penalty corner. Rachel McClatchey was quick off the line as first runner to snuff out the first shot, with Jan Morrow clearing the follow up strike to safety.
Having weathered the early storm Donaghadee began to put together some lovely phases of attacking play, with Kerry Kennedy and Helen Herron both linking beautifully with Kerrie Turtle who, time and again pulled out wide left to exploit the space left by a high-pressing defender. Kerrie was a constant thorn down that side, making considerable ground and getting several shots on target from the wide angle.
One such attack led to the penalty corner that opened the scoring for Donaghadee, with Paige getting the final touch to bundle the ball over the line in a goalmouth scramble. Donaghadee doubled their advantage with a second strike from another penalty corner, this time a clean strike for forward Carolyn Scott. The Dee looked to increase their lead with good work from Catherine Armstrong down the right, but the Hinch defence held strong to leave the score 2-0 at half-time.
It was a rejuvenated Hinch side that came out in the second half, and Donaghadee needed the fresh legs of Chloe Ferguson, Row Moore and Emma McGimpsey-Young in midfield as Donaghadee looked to maintain their advantage. With the home side threatening, Dee keeper Nicola Patton was called in to action to make a couple of smart saves before Hinch reduced the deficit following a penalty corner strike of their own.
Sarah Hooks did a great job of steadying the ship at the heart of defence for the remainder of the third quarter, and it looked as though Donaghadee were going to hang on for the win until a home strike in the final quarter levelled the score at 2-2. The Dee defence did exceptionally well to clear a penalty corner right at the death. With the final whistle blown, every outfield Hinch player descended on the Dee circle in an attempt to keep the ball alive, but Rachel did a magnificent job in getting to the striker and clearing the ball off the side line to ensure the match finished with a point in the bag for Donaghadee.
Kerrie Turtle was voted deserved Star Player by her team mates and she thanked Deborah Gilmour for umpiring. The Firsts welcome Derg Valley to BGS on Saturday, pass back at 2pm, while the 2XI head down the A1 to play Banbridge 5XI, pass back time 1pm.
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 1st October but the Seconds will be back in action the following week to face Banbridge 5XI away – more details to follow.
Emily (2), Row and Sarah were on the score sheet against Dromore on Friday night
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!
Captain Kerry scored twice for the Firsts on Saturday
Senior League 3: Newry 1-2 DLHC 1XI Donaghadee Ladies Hockey Club kicked off their 2022/23 campaign with a win away to Newry on Saturday thanks to a brace from captain Kerry Kennedy.
Donaghadee enjoyed long spells of possession throughout the match, with the first quarter arguably their best. Indeed the first goal came midway through that first period when Kerry made a scything run through the Newry defence from the 23 to unleash a trademark reverse stick shot from the top of the circle to give Donaghadee a deserved lead. Newry did enjoy chances in the shape of two penalty corners but neither troubled the Dee rearguard.
The second quarter was scrappy with the heavy pitch and warm weather combining to snuff out much free flowing hockey: despite a lot of endeavour the Dee didn’t manage to create any chances from open play, although one penalty corner did require a smart save from the Newry keeper.
Donaghadee picked up the pace after the half time whistle and enjoyed further good possession, this time fashioning no fewer than five chances, three of which were on target. Kerry took advantage of this purple patch of pressure when she took an attacking free quickly deep into the Newry defensive quarter. With the home defence caught napping, the midfielder drove into the circle along the baseline to squeeze a shot between the keeper and post from a seemingly impossible angle: 2-0 to Donaghadee.
The final quarter saw Newry making a couple of quick breaks with one penalty corner finding its mark midway through the quarter to make the score 2-1. Donaghadee took that as their wakeup call and reverted to dominating play, with the midfield pushing up high as the team searched for a third goal. No further goals but Donaghadee were delighted to come away with a hard-fought and deserved victory to take their first three points of the season.
The team will be hoping to build on that when they welcome Larne to Bangor Grammar on Friday night, pass back 7pm.
The Seconds were due to play Pegasus but were awarded an easy three points when Pegasus conceded the game on Saturday morning. The 2XI are also in action on Friday night at BGS with a home match against Dromore, pass back 8pm.
Centenary Ball Preparations are well underway for the club’s Centenary Ball which is taking place at Clandeboye Golf Club on Saturday night, in what is shaping up to be an excellent event. Some tickets still remain – please get in touch via the club’s social media channels to secure yours.
Jan Morrow (1XI Most Improved Player) Paige Reilly (1XI Coach’s Player of the Year) Chloe McGookin (1XI Captain’s Player of the Year) Caroline Davison (2XI Coach’s Player of the Year) Carolyn Scott (1XI Top Goalscorer) Jodie Ingham (Best Newcomer) Floss Scott (2XI Most Improved Player) Tasha Moore (2XI Top Goalscorer) Megan Gore (2XI Captain’s Player of the Year)
Grand plans are afoot for the celebration of 100 years of Donaghadee Ladies Hockey Club and the Centenary Committee warmly invites players, past and present, and supporters of the club to join us for a black tie ball on 24th September at Clandeboye Golf Club. We hope this will be the perfect opportunity for old friends and new to catch up, reminisce and celebrate lots of memories of playing for Donaghadee.
Tickets are £35 per person for a three course sit down dinner, glass of bubbles and includes a commemorative publication for each guest. To secure your ticket, please speak to Alison McNeice, Kerry Turtle, Kerry Kennedy or Carolyn Scott, email dlhc@hotmail.co.uk or drop us a message on any of the socials.
We would also love to hear of any old photographs, memorabilia or kit for us to show on the night so please do get in touch if you can help.
DLHC 1XI forward Carolyn Scott (left) was selected for the Ulster O40s squad, while coach Willie McAdam (right) was at the helm of the Ulster O50s team
There was interprovincial representation from two members of Donaghadee Ladies Hockey Club at the Ladies Masters Interpros in Cork a couple of weekends ago. Dee 1XI forward Carolyn Scott was selected for the O40s squad, while Donaghadee coach Willie McAdam was at the helm of the O50s team.
With four games in just two days for the O40s, there was much emphasis on squad rotation to keep legs as fresh as possible, with Carolyn delighted to start two of the matches, and enjoy significant game time in all four. The 40s started strongly with a 2-0 victory over South East before being involved in arguably the comeback of the tournament when they were 3-1 down to Munster with less than 10 minutes to go, before pulling two back to secure a 3-3 draw to put them top of the table at the end of the first day.
Day two kicked off with a tight game against Connaught, with the team from the west taking all three points, leaving the final match against Leinster as the big decider for who would take home the bragging rights for the year. Despite no shortage of effort and endeavour from the 40s, a strong Leinster side emerged the victors, leaving Ulster worthy runners up and looking forward to going one better when the Interpros are hosted in Belfast next Spring.
Willie McAdam’s 50s team had an equally good start to their tournament with a solid 2-0 win over Leinster to put the team in good stead for their next game against Munster. Despite Ulster leading 1-0 for much of the match, the southern side finished strongly, putting two late goals past the Ulster side to take the victory in that game.
With only Connaught to play on the final day, the 50s rallied brilliantly from their late defeat the previous day to produce a splendid 3-0 victory to finish runners up in their group too.
Well done to both Carolyn and Willie for flying the Donaghadee flag so proudly in Cork, and a shout out too to Siobhan McAdam who was also due to travel with the 50s but who didn’t quite shake off the last positive lateral flow test in time to head south.
Senior League 3: Larne 6-0 DLHC 1XI The 1XI of Donaghadee Ladies Hockey Club fulfilled their final match of the season last Friday night – twice rearranged following Covid postponements – with the Dee travelling to the County Antrim side in the knowledge that fourth spot in the league was secured.
Larne capitalised on at least 4 well-worked penalty corners to give themselves an unassailable lead, with two more added from open play to secure the three points. Donaghadee had inflicted Larne’s first of only two defeats of the season the first game back in the new year with a gritty 1-0 victory at BGS and, with Larne in third and battling for a play off place, this was a game which had more at stake for the home side.
The final score – 6-0 to the home side – suggests a comprehensive victory but with numerous players stepping up for Donaghadee, it was actually a very solid performance from the girls in red and green.
It rounded off a terrific second half to the season with the team putting together an impressive run of 6 victories in 7 league games, last losing in the league to second placed Limavady back in November. In those six games, 21 goals were scored with only 2 against with enough points amassed over the course of the season to ensure the Dee finished a full 5 points clear of Ballynahinch in 5th spot.
Illness and unavailability unfortunately took its toll on Donaghadee’s Seconds and they were unable to field a team for the away trip to Banbridge on Saturday. The team has one fixture remaining – Owls away – on 2nd April to wrap up the club’s league programmes.
There will hopefully still be some hockey to come however, with outgoing club captain Carolyn Scott trialling for the Ulster Masters O40s team, and some summer hockey in the pipeline after Easter: full details will be published on the club’s social media channels in due course.
Molly was on hand to score the Dee’s third on Saturday
Junior League 8: Parkview 1-3 DLHC 2XI Donagahdee travelled to Ballyclare to take on Parkview last Saturday with the odds seemingly against them thank to late unavailability and the possibility of no keeper but thankfully there were 11 players on the pitch in time for pass back!
The first quarter saw the Dee girls straight out of the blocks but within the first 10 minutes a penalty corner was awarded to Parkview. A straight strike was taken only to be blocked brilliantly by defender Natalie Jamieson in the first runner position and the ball was quickly passed out to left wing Molly McKee.
Molly moved the ball up the pitch with great pace to find Emily Morris waiting on the post for the perfect pass only to be thwarted by Parkview keeper to keep Donaghadee out. The Dee girls kept the ball high in the Parkview half, with Chloe McGookin firing the ball back into the circle and winning a penalty corner on 13 minutes. Although the Parkview keeper managed to save the initial strike, Caroline Davison was on hand to fire into the back of the net for her first goal of the season and Donaghadee’s first of the afternoon to make it 1-0.
Coming into the second quarter with the same level of energy and determination, the Dee found themselves in the Parkview circle yet again. Emily fired a ball across only to be narrowly missed by attacker Tasha Moore. Following end to end play and chances for both teams, Parkview were awarded a penalty corner which was well saved by the Donaghadee defence, with the Dee finishing the quarter strongly, and 1-0 to the good.
The penultimate quarter was dominated by Donaghadee with defender Lisa Higgins finding herself supporting Lauren Mann half way up the pitch. 35 minutes in, Caroline intercepted a clearance from Parkview defence and passed to Tasha on the edge of the circle. Tasha then fired the ball at pace perfectly along the back line into the corner of the goal, a fantastic goal to make the score 2-0.
With the same level of commitment and energy the Dee girls attacked the final quarter. While dominating the Parkview circle, a break was made allowing Parkview attacker a clear run to the Dee circle. Defenders Mia Park and Floss Scott were quick to chase back and steal the ball moments before the attacker could take the strike.
Midway through the final quarter Chloe fired a ball across the circle which was met by Molly with an excellent deflection to make the score 3-0. With only 4 minutes left on the clock the Donaghadee defence found themselves with a swarm of Parkview attackers round them as the home side made their final push. Parkview created and converted a chance when a long ball was taken from a free outside the 23 was met by a deflection from a well-placed attacker, with the shot finding its way into the Dee goal this time!
Fortunately there was no more time for any more excitement withe the final whistle going with the score 3-1 to Donaghadee. With the whole team playing so well it was too hard to call just one Star Player so it was a team award this week. Massive thank you to Graham for umpiring.
All support welcome as the 2s take on Saintfield away this Saturday 5th March, pass back at Saintfield Sports Club 4pm. The 1XI have another rest this week, with their final game away to Larne scheduled for Friday 11th March.
Donaghadee LHC 