Derby day draw for ladies thirds

The local derby game between North Down ladies thirds and Ards thirds at Londonderry Park was the only North Down game to escape the frosty conditions last Saturday.

Having lost 3-1 to Ards earlier in the season in October, North Down were determined to improve upon this and started the game strongly with great work from Megan Spence, Daisy Fisher and Faye McCann. The first 15 minutes saw North Down dominate the Ards defence and centre forward Anna Sterritt was on hand to put the visitors into an early lead.  Ards were quick on the break and broke through the North Down defence on a number of occasions but Bethan Brittain kept them on their toes clearing the danger confidently. Ards levelled the scores just before half time with a great left side move which finished with the ball just slipping past Linda Marshall in goals.

The second half saw several changes to the North Down line up with Fiona Ellis stepping into the back line and Ashleigh Hamilton adding fire power up front. Again from the whistle North Down started solidly but were held out by good Ards defending. The second half turned out to be an evenly balanced affair with both teams having chances to settle the issue.  However there was no further scoring and in the end, both teams were content to settle for a share of the points.

PMB Player of the Match: Lena Millar-Hogg