Lisa the hero of the hour

Lurgan 2

LISNAGARVEY came out all guns blazing in this Ulster Shield group match at Hillsborough last Thursday night and forced a penalty corner in the very first minute of play.

Lurgan defended this well and soon got their passing game going with controlled play from Sarah McClure, Carly Johnston and Natalie Barr, playing in a more forward role, gradually increasing their influence on the game.

With the lion's share of possession Lurgan were making frequent incursions into the Garvey circle and on 12 minutes they got their reward when Charlene Hull blasted home a penalty corner award to give them the lead.

Three minutes later they increased that lead when Rose Montgomery , who was playing against her old club, smashed the ball across the Garvey circle and a mis-control by a Garvey defender allowed the ever alert Carly Johnston to pounce and steer the ball past the keeper.

Two-nil up and cruising and Lurgan for some inexplicable reason took their foot off the pedal and allowed Garvey back into the game.

Lisa Costley was the hero of the hour in the next few minutes pulling off two superb saves to maintain Lurgan's advantage.

The second of these was an unbelievable stop to a reverse stick shot which was heading into the top corner and had goal written all over it. Garvey were not to be denied and on 19 minutes they reduced the deficit when they converted a penalty corner of their own.

Lurgan came out in determined fashion in the second half and were almost in complete control of this session of play.

Good running upfront from Zoe McNally, Joanne Wilson ,Chloe McCann and Jill Edgar were causing all sorts of problems for the Garvey defence and an early Lurgan short corner was scrambled clear. A few minutes later and a Garvey defender was hit on the foot as the ball was entering the goal, a stroke was the obvious award to Lurgan but the umpire disagreed and the resulting short corner was well defended by the home team.

Lurgan pushed forward most of this half trying to increase their lead but for all their dominance few clear cut chances emerged.

The "older" heads of Helen Morrison and Lyndsey Fulton, who was playing one of her last matches for the club, were always at hand to steady things at the back and the young guns of Serena and Bethany Barr and Hannah Grieve showed what a wealth of young talent the club has to call upon.

In the end Lurgan were happy to settle for a 2-1 win against a team who always prove to be a worthy opponent .