Thirds go through on strokes

On Wednesday evening the ladies 3rd XI made the short journey to Civil Service to take on the PSNI in the second round of the Intermediate Cup. The first half of the game was very much even for both teams, each team had their chances to take the lead but the home and visiting team’s defenses broke down the play very well. Towards the end of the first half North Down really picked up their game and dominated the play with great 1-2 passes between the mid-fields and the forwards. Going into half time North Down were very happy with their team performance and knew that the PSNI would come back stronger and more determined in the second half.

North Down didn’t let their game drop at the start of the second half and continued on with the great play witnessed in the first half. North Down had ample chances to get the first goal of the game and so did the PSNI when they broke free but goalkeeper Natasha Morton kept the defense on their toes and cleared the play away. North Down got the first goal of the game from a penalty corner which had been broken down. Laura Lytle found Kathryn Rogers on the post where she tapped it into the back of the net. North Down kept this lead until the last two minutes when the PSNI equalised.

As this was a cup game 10 minutes of extra time were played with the sliver goal rule in place. The first 5 minutes saw the PSNI dominating the North Down’s defending circle by having numerous penalty corners however these were all cleared away, with great running from Rachel Gibson and Karen Barker Jackson. In the final 5 minutes North Down put in a great team performance and however failed to get a second goal. Penalty strokes decided who would advance into the next round of the cup and after a 2-1 win in strokes, goals from Judith Orr and Anna Smith as well as an excellent performance from goalkeeper Natasha Morton, North Down won!

Massive thanks to Peter Bond for umpiring!

Player of the Match – Anna Smith

Report: Kathryn Rogers