Ballymoney lose opening match of 2014

ACTION. Ballymoney's Laura McCurdy (left) tussles for the ball against her Harlequins opponent on Saturday.INBM2-14 010SC.

BALLYMONEY 1

Ballymoney 1st XI faced Lurgan in their opening match of 2014.

Both teams started strongly with penalty corners being won and successfully saved by both goalies.

Lurgan opened the scoring after 25 minutes. The Ballymoney girls continued to pile on the pressure and were very unlucky to have a goal disallowed in the 33rd minute.

The second half started strongly for Ballymoney with several chances going just wide of the post. The north Antrim girls continued to fight hard and were unlucky with some of the decisions made in the second half.

Lurgan won a penalty corner with 10 minutes to go, which unfortunately for Ballymoney they converted on the rebound. The Toon quickly counter-attacked and Cara Ferguson scored a great goal.

The clock was against Ballymoney and there wasn’t enough time for an equaliser.

* BALLYMONEY 2NDS 1 HARLEQUINS 4

On Saturday, Ballymoney 2XI played host to Belfast Harlequins.

Ballymoney knew before the outset this would be a challenging match, as their previous encounter this season saw the Toon record a disappointing 4-1 loss.

From the first whistle, Harlequins came out strongly with confidence putting the local girls on their back foot.

Fast passing and good stick work from the travelling side stretched the Ballymoney defence, and disappointingly led to Harlequins going 0-1 up within the first 10 minutes.

This goal did not dampen the Money spirits, but brought out their determination, and Ballymoney started to play hockey they are known for.

The second half couldn’t have started any worse for Ballymoney, again caught on the back foot and Belfast Harlequins took advantage, gaining two goals in quick succession.

For the next 10 minutes, Harlequins dominated the game and Ballymoney heads were beginning to drop, leading to yet another goal.

As the half progressed, Ballymoney started to pick themselves back up and got back into the game. The Toon gained some possession and put pressure on the Harlequins’ circle right up to the final whistle, but this was all too late to repair the damage.