Derg Valley Ladies 1-0 Newry Olympic Ladies

On Saturday 20^th November Newry ladies made the trek to Castlederg to take on Derg Valley Ladies.

From the whistle, Newry dominated the first quarter, putting Derg Valley under pressure to defend and keep the ball away from their circle.

There was great energy among midfielders Kathryn Baird, Stacey Moffett and Stephanie Smart, who worked well to drive the ball through to the forwards who created numerous opportunities to score, but unfortunately the first quarter ended nil nil.

Into the second quarter, Newry started out with the same energy and drive from the first quarter and again gave Derg Valley very little opportunities to score. Sweeper Chrisse McAuley made it look easy with powerful hits up to the forwards that not even Derg could stop. Not long before the whistle for half time, Newry won the first penalty corner of the match, but it was well defended by a Derg player on the right post.

With no score at half time, and with Newry dominating the majority of the match so far, the Olympic girls were determined to go out after the restart and look for the first goal. However, not long into the second half, an unfortunate penalty corner was awarded to Derg Valley, after the ball hit a Derg foot and not a Newry one. Despite Newry protests the corner stood and the home-side scored putting them one goal up.

Newry kept their heads and continued to press forward. They remained in Derg Valley’s half for the remainder of the third quarter, putting them under constant pressure with great passing and tackling.

In the final quarter Derg won a couple of short corners, but they were well defended by the Newry defence. Newry worked well to get the ball into the Derg circle, but were unable to equalise before the final whistle.

The result was a very unlucky loss for the Olympic ladies, who were by far the better side. They played superbly to dominate the majority of the match and create numerous opportunities.

Newry Olympic Ladies 1s

Katie McCullough, Kathryn Baird (captain), Laverne Inns, Chrissie McAuley, Stacey Moffett, Sarah McNeilly, Abbey Haire, Stephanie Smart, Rebecca Murdock, Zara Moffett, Emma-Jayne Moffett, Lisa Murdock, Sara Adams, Jodie Freeman