Newry Olympic Ladies 2s 2-1 CI Ladies 5s

On Saturday 8th February 2025 Newry Olympic Ladies 2s played a home match against CI Ladies 5s at Markethill High School, as the club pitch on the Belfast Road was still out of action.

Both teams started of strong with Newry gaining the first corner, but unfortunately Captain Laverne Inns miss hit and the home team was unable to gain the lead. CI retaliated and were also awarded a corner, but were kept at bay due to the strong defensive skills of sweeper, Chrissie Macauley. The Olympic earned another penalty corner after Rebekah McFarland fed the ball to mid Caragh McGaffin, who in turn switched to centre midfielder Ali Benson who had her shot blocked illegally by the visitor's defence. This time at the corner Newry switched back to Ali Benson, but the CI goalie kept the ball out and the score remained nil all at the end of the first quarter.

At the start of the second quarter CI really put the pressure on and were the first to score. Newry showed some great running from the mids and super positioning by the forwards on the posts to try to get on level terms. However the tackling and clearance from the Belfast team's defence was top quality and at half time CI were still in the lead one nil.

As a result of fantastic coaching from Fran Santoro during the break, Newry changed the team formation and brought a renewed whole team effort for the second half. It didn't take long for the change to pay off, as Katie McFarland fed the ball from the back through to centre mid Ali Benson, who slipped a great ball past the CI goalie to get the equaliser.

In the fourth quarter Newry fought hard to keep the CI forwards out of their circle, with strong blocks in defence from Jodie Freeman and Stacey Kidd. In the final minute Jessica McCullough smashed the ball across the pitch to right wing Laverne Inns who drove into the CI circle winning a corner for Newry. With the final whistle blown, Newry brought all ten players up to the "D" and with an accurate injection from Ali Benson to Laverne Inns, the ball was slipped to Diane McMinn-Johnston who scored to make it 2-1 for a well-deserved win for the home side.

Newry Olympic Ladies would like to thank their coach Fran for the great support, encouragement and sharing of knowledge from the sideline. Player of the match went to Stacey Kidd for her endless effort, speed and skills on the pitch. 

Thanks also to Mr Simon Johnston from Elite Car Care, Bessbrook for sponsoring the match ball for the game.

Newry Olympic Ladies 2s v CI Ladies 5s

Laverne Inns (Capt), Chrissie McAuley, Rebekah McFarland, Kate McFarland, Sarah Knight, Jodie Freeman, Caragh McGaffin, Alison Benson, Naomi Dickson, Jessica McCullough, Emma McCullough, Sarah Lawson, Sarah Irwin, Jenna McWilliams, Stacey Kidd, Diane McMinn-Johnston

Newry Olympic Ladies would like to thank Elite Car Valeting, Bessbrook for sponsoring the match ball.