Ballymoney fail to turn chances into goals against Portadown in Shield

Ballymoney hosted Portadown, at the Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre on Wednesday last in their second Ulster Shield encounter.

The game began with Ballymoney on the attack, keeping Portadown on their toes. As the game continued the away side settled and soon challenged the ‘Toon ladies.

Ballymoney’s midfield and forwards were unlucky not to convert from the many opportunities which they created. As the whistle blew for half time the score remained 0-0.

The second half saw Ballymoney pushing forward, retaining possession, but they could not take their chances in the circle.

Portadown threaded a long ball to their left wing, creating a goal scoring opportunity only to be cleared by the ‘Toon’s new recruit in goals, Jodie Shannon.

Ballymoney worked tirelessly all over the pitch looking for the final connection to convert. A short corner was awarded but unfortunately went wide of the goal.

Moments later, another short corner was won but the straight strike was well saved by the Portadown keeper.

The team would like to thank everyone who came to support the 1XI squad and look forward to the season ahead.

BANBRIDGE II 0 BALLYMONEY II 4

Ballymoney II made the journey to Banbridge to welcome the newly promoted side into Junior One.

With a strong field Ballymoney settled into play in the first ten minutes to control and create opportunities.

The forwards worked tirelessly to be awarded a penalty corner. This was well executed with a slip from Ruth Sutherland to Jill Black who took her strike, hitting the back board putting the girls 1-0 up.

Banbridge did respond but all attempts were denied by the Ballymoney defence. The ‘Toon girls claimed another penalty corner, that was well executed by Olivia Linton with a deflection at the right post.

Knowing that Banbridge were wanting to start the second half hard, Ballymoney were prepared to lift the pace again and push for more goals.

The girls played confidently passing the ball around the play, interlinking with the forwards, to put Banbridge on the back foot.

Ballymoney reaped are rewards by converting a deflection by Emma Patton, to put is further into the lead at 3-0.

Banbridge were still on the hunt for a goal and showed determination, but our answer was centre midfielder, Jill Black, who wound her way through the Banbridge defence to strike home the final goal and leave the final score at 4-0.

Well done ladies, and thank you to our sponsors bonds.

BALLYMONEY III 0 RANDALSTOWN III 0

Ballymoney III remained undefeated after a 0-0 draw against Randalstown on Friday. The ‘Toon dominated the first half with many strikes on target from Amy McCaw and Lauren Henry.

Ballymoney defended strongly with Ciara and Maria to leave the first half scoreless. The ‘Toon were strong in the second half, with good attacking from Laura McCurdy, Sara Carr and Karen Taggart.

A great strike from Sarah Holden, hit the post in the final few minutes. A big thank you goes to Laura McCurdy and Judith McCracken for doing goals. We would also like to wish Laura the best of luck as she heads off to university.