Hat-trick for AJ

North Down continued their good form with a very convincing 5-0 home win over top of the table Ballymena last Saturday.

The first quarter saw North Down dominate possession with good attacking play.  The Brown sisters controlled the centre of the pitch creating lots of space for Bethany Burrows to drive into the circle where the ball found a Ballymena foot for the first penalty corner to be awarded.  A fine strike from Heather Brittan at the top found Amy Kimber for a good deflection to open the scoring. North Down continued to cause havoc down the middle and a hard ball from Lauren Brown into the circle allowed Kimber to sweep the ball into the net to make it 2-0.

Ballymena came out hard in the second quarter but didn’t cause much of a threat to the solid North Down defence. Caitlyn Taylor caused chaos down the right-hand side with her speed and skill destroying her opposition. A through ball down the right found Selina Lewis who drove hard into the circle slipping the ball past the Ballymena keeper. Amy Kimber continued to be a threat in the circle taking the ball past her player and finding the backboard yet again to make it 4-0 at half time.

Ballymena knew they needed to work hard in the second half if they were to get anything from the game with their strongest player being marked out of the game by Lauren Brown they needed to change their style of play. Heather Brittan made some fine saves off the line to keep North Down in front. Strong passing and movement between Rachel Mornin, Alex Boyd, Caitlyn Taylor and Heather Brittan allowed the ball to find its way through to Olivia Brown who picked up the ball at the top of the circle where Lewis ran in front for a pass and popped the ball over the keeper.

The final quarter saw North Down dominate with the majority of play in the Ballymena half but Ballymena, unable to create any chances, left Comber with no goals and no points.

Burch Autos Player of the Match was Amy Kimber