North Down Secure Irish Hockey Trophy Final Spot

North Down booked their place in the Irish Hockey Trophy Final with an impressive 4–0 victory over Clonakilty in the semi-final.

With Clonakilty having travelled an early five and a half hours to reach the fixture, North Down started brightly and quickly took control of the game. Their strong start paid off in the first quarter when Andrea Mockford opened the scoring, firing home a powerful reverse strike to give the home side a deserved 1–0 lead.

North Down continued to play with intensity in the second quarter, building well through midfield and creating several promising attacking opportunities. Despite their dominance and sustained pressure on the Clonakilty defence, the second goal remained elusive and the sides went into half-time with North Down holding a narrow advantage.

The second half saw North Down step up another gear. Their pressure soon paid off from a well-rehearsed penalty corner routine, with Sophie Leckie producing a powerful drag flick to double the lead. Shortly afterwards, Andrea Mockford struck again, showing great awareness and positioning in the circle to claim her second goal of the game and extend North Down’s advantage to 3–0.

Clonakilty responded by increasing the pressure, but North Down remained composed. The defence worked the ball confidently from the back and the team continued to implement new patterns of play they had been developing in training under coaches Robbie McMinn and Aaron Mills.

The fourth quarter brought further chances for North Down and, with just two minutes remaining, Connie Magee completed the scoring. She calmly slotted the ball across the goal line to seal an emphatic 4–0 victory.

The team celebrated their win in style afterwards as they combined the occasion with Caitlyn Adair’s hockey hen do — with some lively (and perhaps questionable) singing rounding off a memorable day.

North Down will now face South Antrim in the Irish Hockey Trophy Final after their semi-final victory over Dromore.

Finally, the team would also like to extend huge congratulations to Ali and Ross, on the arrival of their beautiful baby boy on Sunday. We can’t wait to see him joining us on the hockey pitch in the future.

Burch Autos Player of the Match – Caitlin Taylor