Fourths’ good display not enough to see off Saintfield

ON a relatively mild day for January, Dromore Ladies Hockey Club’s Fourth XI hosted Saintfield Ladies second eleven at Ferris Park.

The teams drew level at 1-1 at their meeting earlier in the season and last Saturday the teams once again proved to be an equal match for each other.

The Dromore ladies started the game more sluggishly than normal possibly due to the recent Christmas break and Saintfield looked the sharper team in the opening ten minutes of the first half.

Saintfield were fast on the break and the Dromore defence was soon caught out in quick succession allowing Saintfield to go 2-0 up.

In the latter part of the first half Dromore had settled into their game and they began building some great attacking runs. Great play from Glover and Johnston found Clements in the circle but a great shot just sneaked wide of the post.

Dromore kept up the pressure and it eventually paid off when Lynne Nesbitt, who had just returned from injury, did some sterling work on the right wing and eventually picked out Glover in the circle who found the back of the net just before half-time.

The second half saw a much more determined Dromore walk onto the pitch and it was very much game on.

The play was literally end to end for the all of the second half the but speed and skill of the Saintfield girls didn’t wane and they capitalised on their chances first in this half and went 3-1 ahead.

The Dromore team spirit wasn’t broken and some excellent play by Andrea Wilson on the wing saw Nicola Clements collect the ball in the circle and beat the Saintfield keeper to score.

To the credit of the Dromore girls they continued to step up to the mark and again this paid off when young Wilson put another past the Saintfield keeper leaving the score 3-3 with only minutes remaining on the clock.

Sadly though it was not to be Dromore’s day when a long, pot luck shot into the Dromore circle was deflected past the Dromore keeper. With less than a minute on the clock after the restart Dromore made it into the Saintfield 25 but time just ran out for any response.

Overall it was a good display from the Dromore girls who showed great maturity, team spirit, and determination and hopefully they can carry these skills through to the remainder of the season and get a few more league points on the board.

Thanks must go again to Allyson McMullan and Thomas Sturgeon for umpiring.

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