Derg Valley Ladies seconds take honours over Bannsiders
Thursday, 12 January 2012
Donna Mortland, Derg Valley Ladies seconds, intercepts a pass intended for the Coleraine thirds forward line, during their Junior Eight League game on Saturday.
Derg Valley II 3, Coleraine III 0. DERG Valley Ladies Hockey Club seconds returned to league action against Coleraine thirds on Saturday after a four week Christmas break. With only one point separating the two teams, it was all to play for with the Derg Valley girls emerging victorious by 3-nil.
Coleraine won the toss and drilled the long ball deep into the Derg '25'. The early chance was dealt with swiftly by L Milligan on the right. She quickly passed the short ball to Mortland, who was able to clear the ball back into midfield.
L Rankin, in central midfield, had an excellent game, and she fed the ball to Darragh on the left and Hamilton on the right with pinpoint precision.
Derg held the majority of possession in the opening 20 minutes with Nethery, J Rankin and N Milligan making the Coleraine defence work extremely hard to keep the scoreline at 0-0.
The deadlock finally broke when J Rankin passed to Nethery on the edge of the Coleraine 'D', she managed to pull the keeper off the line and slotted the ball neatly through the keeper's legs.
A more rejuvenated Derg team took to the restart and quickly won the ball back. Hamilton on the right picked the ball up after a swift tackle by Mortland in the middle of the pitch and she quickly fed the ball to N Milligan in the right corner. Milligan brought the ball into the 'D' and a joint effort by Nethery and Keatley saw the ball slotted inside the keeper's right post.
The second half started with Coleraine once again using the long ball to put the Derg defence under pressure. A missed clearance allowed the visitors their first shot on goal, but the shot was fired wide of the mark.
The resulting free out was taken by Stewart who passed to Forbes, a good strong push into midfield allowed Derg to build another wave of attack. This time it was Hamilton who got her name on the scoresheet by picking up the loose ball on the edge of the Coleraine 'D' and after rounding two defenders she slotted in the home team's third goal of the day. Coleraine pushed an extra player forward from the restart and put the Derg defence to work. The pressure resulted in the Coleraine team being awarded two penalty corners. The first was miss-hit and easily picked up by J Rankin in midfield, but a more determined Coleraine defence made a remarkable tackle and drilled the ball back into the danger area. A high clearance by Patterson in goal awarded the visitors their second penalty corner, but a loose pass from the Coleraine girls allowed Stewart and Forbes to clear the ball back into midfield.
Derg Valley manager, Patterson, commented that after the prolonged Christmas break the team played exceptionally well and thanked Ethel McClelland for umpiring a great game. Also a big thank-you to all the supporters who attended the game which was much appreciated.
Derg Valley: Patterson (cpt) Mortland, Stewart, Forbes, L Milligan, Darragh, L Rankin, Hamilton, Nethery, J Rankin, Keatley and N Milligan.
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