Honours even at Deramore

On Saturday the North Down ladies thirds made the short journey to Deramore Park to play Belfast Harlequins in Junior League Four. The home team started off strongly and kept the North Down defence on their toes. Goalkeeper Helena Press made some great saves to keep the score line 0-0 throughout the first quarter. North Down settled themselves and quickly switched the flow of play with one/twos down the right hand side to put some pressure on the Harlequins defence but there was nothing to choose between the two teams for the remainder of the first half.

North Down held possession for most of the third quarter and did all the hard work to get the ball into the attacking circle but the Quins goalkeeper cleared any shots taken. North Down knew they had to keep it simple and win a penalty corner. Quins applied some pressure on the visiting team and took a quick free pass which was cleared out of the circle and ran up the right hand side of the pitch where a foot was found in the circle. One penalty corner turned into three in a row but the visitors couldn’t find the back of the net. The fourth quarter saw some great play for both teams end to end but the game finished in a scoreless draw and a fantastic game of hockey from everyone involved.

Burch Autos Player of the Match was Helena Press.