Ladies thirds finish with a flourish
North Down 3rds 6-3 Knock 2nds
On Saturday North Down ladies thirds played their last fixture of the season against Knock seconds at Comber Leisure Centre. Having narrowly beaten Knock 1-0 at the start of the season North Down were determined to finish on a high.
Both teams started off strongly and it wasn’t long before North Down got into their stride and put the Knock defence under pressure. After a good build up North Down got the first goal of the game from right wing Sacha Bell. Knock were quick on the attack and due to poor defending by the home team they quickly equalised. The Comber girls responded and slowly settled into their own game of one two passing which led to centre forward Brittany Hogan notching North Down’s second goal of the game. Again the visiting team’s centre line was very strong and they quickly replied with their second goal of the game from a penalty corner to make it 2-2. With half time approaching North Down pushed forward and after several penalty corners they got their third goal of the game from Kathryn Rogers on the left hand post.
With a final and very positive half time talk North Down set out to enjoy their last 30 minutes of the season. Knock started well but it wasn’t long before North Down picked up their game again. Great passing between the defence and the midfield who worked the ball up to the forwards led to a number of chances which were dealt with well by a good Knock team but it wasn’t long before the fourth goal for North Down was scored by Laura Murray. The majority of the second half was spent in the visiting team’s defending circle but they were very quick on the break and scored their third goal of the game from another penalty corner to make it 4-3. North Down then dominated the remainder of the game and two more goals through Judith Orr and Brittany Hogan settled the issue. North Down finished their last game of the season with a win and promotion to Junior 3 next season. Many thanks to the girls for their hard work this season and especially to captain Emma Gowdy and vice captain Linda Marshall.
Players of the Match: Brittany Hogan and Kathryn Rogers.
Report by Kathryn Rogers