Two more for Jenna as thirds march on!

North Down ladies thirds hosted Pegasus thirds at Ards Leisure Centre last Saturday and, with the visitors having dropped from the league above, North Down were right to be concerned about the possible outcome.

 North Down started the game with the right attitude and plenty of communication. Throughout the first half most of the play was in the Pegasus defending circle. North Down had the right mind set and after a number of shots on goal the first goal came from Natalie Strain. North Down knew they had to keep the pressure on and with excellent passing from left back Keri Portinga through to the forwards the Comber girls were applying more pressure. The Pegasus defence again cracked with a second goal from Jenna Hoey. Pegasus tried to fight back but the North Down defence easily read the play of the ball and sweeper Rebecca Walker broke the play down. After a spell of end to end play Jenna Hoey got her second goal of the match to put the home side three goals ahead.  North Down kept the ball in their attacking half and gained a penalty corner just before half time but Kathryn Rogers struck the ball narrowly wide.

 At the start of the second half North Down correctly guessed that Pegasus would fight back.  The majority of the play was in the North Down circle as Pegasus pushed forward to reduce the deficit but goalkeeper Natasha Morton was in fine form and kept them out.  When pressure was released from the North Down defence, the forward line of Emma Johnston, Natalie Strain and Naomi Mitchell played had great interplay but with no end result.  North Down kept their shape and held on to keep a clean sheet for a 3 -0 win. A massive well done to all the girls and a big thank you to Roger Nield for umpiring. 

 Player of the match – Keri Portinga