Late goal does it for ladies fifths

North Down ladies fifths played away to Ards fifths at Londonderry Park on Saturday. With some of the other matches cancelled due to frost, they were hoping for the availability of extra substitutes but this was not to be due to registration regulations.

It was a lack lustre first half with much of the play confined to midfield and neither defence put under any pressure.  Unsurprisingly the half finished scoreless.

The visitor’s team talk was to try and be first to the ball and not hang back and this seemed to work initially into the second half.  Certainly Marion Sanderson and Judith Orr didn’t hang back and forced some great saves from Ireland Masters’ keeper Pamela Chittick with Deborah Sherlock close to getting a rebound on one occasion.  The midfield joined in with Kathy Taylor, Emma McIlwaine and Kirsten McBride winning some frees and passing to the forwards, but nothing could get past Chittick!  The game was very even until with two minutes to go, a poorly taken North Down free went straight to an Ards player who led a break which saw them evade a static North Down defence to score the only goal of the game.

North Down did try to counterattack and produced another save from Chittick but time soon ran out leaving the visitors disappointed as a draw would have been a fair result.

PMB Player of the Match:  Kathy Taylor

Report from Beverley Brittain (heavily abridged!)