Single goal settles it for ladies first eleven

North Down ladies travelled to Portadown last Saturday knowing three points was a must to retain their position at the top of the Senior League but would require a great team effort and mindset.

During the first quarter North Down had a shaky start with some lack of control and stray passes allowing Portadown plenty of attacking opportunities. This continued for most of the first quarter. On the final whistle North Down won a corner, Heather Brittain took the shot well and forced the keeper to save, Bethan Crawford was quick to react to the deflection slotting the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0 to North Down.

Into the second quarter North Down started to settle into the match and managed to hold onto the ball well, making some dangerous attacking play from Caitlyn Taylor, Bethany Burrows, Olivia Brown and Lauren Brown in midfield. Portadown continued to use their skilful forwards on the break but the defence stayed strong with great tackles and marking from Bethan Crawford, Alex Boyd, Rachel Mornin, Heather Brittain, Kerry Watts and Barthe McCormick.

North Down continued in the second half to stand strong in defence with the whole team working together. At one stage North Down went down to 9 players but everyone got behind the ball to prevent Portadown from taking advantage of this. The third quarter continued with back to back play from both teams, with Jenna Hoey, Sophie Hoey and Rachel Murphy trying to break down the Portadown defence.

During the final quarter Portadown started strongly and continued to put pressure on North Down, who spent most of the final quarter defending, it was a great team effort with everyone playing a role. Portadown continued to win corners which were defended well but the North Down girls saw the game out to the final whistle and can go forward with confidence after a hard fought win to their game this Friday night against KV after a professional performance.

Burch Autos Player of the Match was Rachel Mornin