Ladies seconds good form continues
North Down Ladies seconds set out to continue and build on their recent good run of form hosting Civil Service seconds at Comber on probably the wettest day of the year so far.
The game got off to a less than ideal start for North Down as they lost possession of the ball in the middle of the pitch, allowing Service into the circle, where they won and scored the first penalty corner of the game on 5 minutes. North Down didn’t let their heads drop and reset themselves with fantastic passing and transferring of the ball between the back four of Ali Campbell, Angelique Toombs, Karen Moore and Caitlyn Adair, linking up with the midfield trio and finally North Down had some forward momentum. Good play from forwards Jenna Pliauga and Judith Orr won some crucial attacking penalty corners, one of which was converted by Ali Campbell with a rebound off the keeper to level the game just at the end of the first quarter.
Into the second quarter and North Down had a much better grip of the game pressing the Civil defence well and leaving them no options for their clearances out of defence. Early into the quarter North Down lost a player who took a ball to the jaw and, with just one sub, the hope that an ice pack for the remainder of the quarter would be enough to get back to full strength after half time. North Down started to lose their shape but were happy to hear the half time whistle so they could regroup and refuel.
Words of wisdom from coach Darren Toombs led the team into what is probably one of the best halves of hockey the team have played so far. The team got their shape back and were looking dangerous on every attack. Civil Service had a few breaks though but the defence dealt with these with ease. Right at the end of the third quarter, a goal line scramble saw Tilly Nield calmly lift the ball over the fallen keeper to put North Down deservedly 2-1 into the lead.
The final quarter was again ever better play from the entire team. The visitors had more subs and fresher legs but North Down didn’t let this dishearten them and pushed on to increase their lead. North Down’s continued pressure led to another short corner which was beautifully worked, again finding injector Ali Campbell on the back line to finish in the bottom corner to put the home team 3-1 up. A quick break from Jenna Pliauga led to a beautiful individual goal as she beat three defenders and the keeper to calmly slot the ball home for a 4-1 lead. In the dying minutes Service has a number of penalty corners but these were dealt with by the home defence to finish the game off! A fantastic team performance from all 12 players in the worst of conditions!
Burch Autos Player of the Match was Ali Campbell