Instonians Ladies 5-0 Newry Olympic Ladies

The ladies 1s travelled to Shaw's Bridge in Belfast on Saturday 30th October to play the league leaders, Instonians Ladies. The girls knew it was going to be a tough game and so it proved, however the Newry team gave a great account of themselves.

Instonians went on the attack from the first whistle, but the Olympic defence held firm. Goalkeeper Katie McCullough made a number of great saves from open play and penalty corners to keep the score 0-0 at the end of the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Instonians kept up the pressure. Newry's centre-mid Rachel Greer commanded the midfield, making some well timed tackles and interceptions. When the home side did break through, sweeper Chrissie McCauley and centre back Rebecca Murdock were on hand to clear the danger. Murdock made a fantastic goal-line clearance from a penalty corner when keeper McCullough had been beaten for the first time.

Olympic were delighted to reach half time with the score still 0-0 against such strong opposition.

Instonians came out for the third quarter determined to get on the scoreboard. They were soon awarded another corner, but the Inst striker miss hit the ball after being blocked by great running by first runner Kathryn Baird. Near the end of the quarter Newry's defence eventually cracked. A scrappy through ball from the right wing ran slowly across the front of the Newry goal and was tapped in by an Instonians forward at the far post. An unlucky break for the Newry team!

Olympic fought back, determined to get back on level terms. They pushed forward through good play by Greer and centre forward Laverne Inns and were eventually awarded their first penalty corner, which unfortunately was well cleared by the home defence.

The third quarter ended 1-0 for Instonians.

As Olympic pushed forward for an equaliser from the start of the fourth quarter, more gaps started to open up at the back and Inst quickly capitalised on this.  They were somewhat fortunate to get their second goal after a mix up in the Newry defence and then quickly added a third through a well worked corner routine. Inst scored number four after blocking a clearance from the Newry defence and wrapped up the game by forcing home a shot at the third attempt from a yet another corner.

The match ended with a deserved 5-0 win for the Belfast side. Although a loss, this was a really encouraging game for the Olympic Ladies and was a strong overall performance against the league leaders.

They showed some great link play from defence, through midfield to the forward line; and had the player of the match with another fine performance from goalkeeper Katie McCullough.

Newry Olympic Ladies 1s

Katie McCullough, Kathryn Baird (Captain), Rachael Greer, Laverne Inns, Zara Moffett, Emma-Jayne Moffett, Abbey Haire, Katie McCullough, Stacey Moffett, Chrissie McCauley, Jodie Freeman, Sarah McNeilly, Rebecca Murdock, Stephanie Smart, Lisa Murdock,