Hard fought draw for ladies fourths!

North Down ladies fourths travelled to The Dub last Saturday to compete against Queens 4ths.  With a basic 11 player squad due to illness cry offs that morning they knew that it would be a tough match and it was!!! However, their victory the previous week had encouraged North Down.

The match commenced in torrential rain and winds but not even this could dampen North Down’s spirits and whatever Queen’s threw at them the team coped with calmly. Nicola Ferris in goals commanded the circle and was very vocal constantly encouraging her defence. Captain Maxine Taylor as sweeper did her usual job of picking up any loose balls and putting them out of danger.  Right back Anna Rogers consistently jab tackled and won the ball.  The experienced eyes of centre back Ann McBride focused on the ball and not the fancy stick work that Queens displayed, preventing them from getting into the circle and left back Bev Brittain fired numerous hit outs down the left to the awaiting Jill Jack and Eve Porter who managed to get the ball into the Queens circle but just could not find the back of the net leaving the score 0 – 0 at halftime.

In the second half North Down found it hard to contend with the forceful wind but sheer guts and determination from the whole team kept Queens at bay. Counter-attacking by midfielders Lynsey Stevenson, Karen Jackson and Bethany Burrows produced chances for Annie Haughey but the Queen’s goalkeeper somehow managed to keep the ball out. Final score was 0-0 with everyone agreeing that this was the team’s best team performance of the season!

Player of the Match: Lynsey Stevenson

Converted into a match report from the original by Beverley Brittain!