Irish trophy exit for ladies first eleven

North Down ladies first eleven hosted Dungannon in the Irish Trophy at Comber last Saturday.

Both teams got off to a good start with North Down scoring first. A pass from Kirsty Boobyer from the top of the circle took a deflection off Bethany Burrows to put North Down 1-0 up in the first quarter. Dungannon reacted to this and quickly equalised to make the score 1-1 at the end of the first period.

The second quarter got underway with North Down having much of the possession as midfielder Olivia Brown controlled the game well from the middle. North Down’s defenders Heather Brittain, Angelique Toombs, Ali Campbell and Caitlin Taylor worked tirelessly around the back denying Dungannon’s forward attacks. Somewhat against the run of play Dungannon were awarded a penalty corner and scored to take the lead at 2-1.  An opportunity came for North Down to equalise before half time when Rhiannon Davies won a penalty stroke which was well converted by Rachael Murphy making it 2-2 at half time.

In the third quarter Dungannon took their chance at another penalty corner to make the score 3-2.  North Down goalkeepers Kathryn McGregor and Barthe McCormick both performed very well despite being under pressure from Dungannon throughout the whole game. At the other end of the pitch. North Down’s forwards Sophie Hoey and Jenna Frazer kept building pressure and were unlucky not to score.

The final quarter saw Dungannon score from open play a few minutes in to seemingly make it safe at 4-2 but North Down didn’t let this affect their dominance in the game. Rachel Andrews, playing out of her normal position in defence, worked the ball out under Dungannon pressure and North Down won a corner which came out to Megan Murray who took a reverse shot and Lois Wilson deflected it into the net on the right post. Despite North Down putting Dungannon under continual pressure in their circle, their efforts fell short when the final whistle went leaving the final score 4-3 to Dungannon.

Burch Autos Player of the Match was Rachel Andrews.