Newry Olympic Ladies 1-1 Ballynahinch Ladies

Newry Olympic ladies secured their first point of the season on the pitch, with a hard earned draw at home against Ballynahinch ladies on Friday night.

Playing underneath the floodlights at the Belfast Road, Newry put pressure on the Ballynahinch defence right from the start. The team worked the ball well from the back through to the forwards, creating some great attacks. Despite some exciting end-to-end play from both teams, the first quarter ended with no score.

It wasn't long into the second quarter when Ballynahinch took the advantage by winning a short corner and the ball found the back of the net from a direct strike. Although disappointed, the Olympic ladies kept their heads up and fought hard to hold the score line at one nil until the whistle for half time.

Newry started the third quarter strongly.  Centre midfield Rachael Greer won a short corner with a great twisting run, but unfortunately the home side weren’t able to balance off the score line. With Hinch creating a high press on Newry’s hit outs, sweeper Chrissie McAuley was finding it difficult to get the ball through to the forwards. Switching strategy to use a short ball, the home team made some great one-two’s and managed to get the ball down the pitch to win another short corner. The ball was injected by Kathryn Baird to Chrissie McAuley at the top of the circle, who switched it to Rachael Greer but with no clear hit on, she switched it back to McAuley who slammed the ball into the bottom left corner for a great equaliser.

In the last quarter, Newry knew they had to fight hard until the final whistle, and that is what they did. The Newry ladies kept the pressure on by driving forward with the ball and creating havoc in the Ballynahinch defence. The away team managed to win a couple of short corners before the final whistle, but they were kept out by the Newry defenders. The score remained one each at the final whistle.

Another brilliant performance by Newry keeper Katie McCullough who made some fantastic saves throughout the match. Overall, a very well-deserved draw for the Olympic side and an amazing performance by the whole team.

Newry Olympic Ladies 1s

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