Ladies go clear at the top in Coleraine

North Down travelled to Coleraine on Saturday for a highly anticipated top of the table clash.

Straight from the whistle, the visitors started strongly with Lauren Brown attacking from the pass back and breaking into Coleraine’s circle. This pressure continued with multiple chances for the visitors however, Coleraine countered with a quick break but a well timed tackle from Bethan Crawford led to a counter attack on the break. Jenna Hoey continued her excellent form in front of goal and slotted the ball in with only 7 minutes on the clock.

North Down continued to dominate and quickly won a penalty corner which resulted in Sophie Hoey pouncing on the ball on the left post and the visitors were two up by the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw Coleraine have repeated attempts to counter resulting in three penalty corners. Excellent work from North Down keeper Barthe McCormick kept the home team at bay with the score remaining at 2-0 at the end of the half.

The second half saw increased pressure from Coleraine with their centre back looking to crash the ball through but steadfast defence continued to deny them. Excellent runs down the line by Rachael Murphy allowed an outlet for defence leading to another penalty corner but North Down were unable to capitalise and the score remained unchanged.

The fourth quarter saw a solid defensive effort from the whole team, particularly with an outstanding save off the line from Alex Boyd. For their part, Coleraine were determined to score and won several penalty corners but North Down maintained their clean sheet with an excellent team effort and stand clear at the top of the Senior One table with another 3 points.

Burch Autos Player of the Match was shared by Bethan Crawford and Alex Boyd.