Late late draw by ladies thirds

This week North Down ladies thirds hosted Civil Service seconds at Comber Leisure Centre. Having previously been beaten by them 4-0 at the start of the season the home team were hopeful that they could improve upon this.

At the start of the first half Civil Service made their mark by showing how fast they were and how much they wanted to get the first goal of the game. The majority of the first half was spent in North Down’s defending half with Civil Service running the ball down both sides and passing it across the net but goalkeeper Fiona Emerson kept the defenders on their toes. The midfield and forwards had several attempts to score with great running from Lucy Bell and Laura Lyttle however the visiting team’s goalkeeper cleared the play with ease. Towards the end of the first half Civil Service had a fair share of penalty corners and long corners but the defense worked incredibly hard to make sure they went into half time 0-0.

The start of the second half saw North Down apply pressure to the Civil Service defense however the play quickly changed sides and about 90% of the second half was spent in North Down’s defending circle. The home team’s defense put in 110% effort breaking down the play and clearing the ball away from the net but Civil Service just kept applying the pressure. Civil Service were awarded yet more penalty corners and these were saved by Rebecca Nield and Kathryn Rogers on the line. With minutes to go Civil Service got their last penalty corner whn they slipped it past the right hand post and took the lead. North Down didn’t give up and Judith Orr and Laura Lyttle brought the ball up to their attacking circle and after some very tense play Laura Lyttle equalised with seconds to spare. Well done to all the girls for putting in lots of hard work and for achieving a super result that feels like a win. Massive thanks to Bethan Brittain for umpiring as well.

Joint Players of the Match – Fiona Emerson and Kathryn Rogers

Report by Kathryn Rogers.