Battling Larne Ladies are edged out by Raphoe

Larne Ladies hosted second-placed Raphoe on Saturday in Senior 1 and emerged on the wrong end of a 4-3 scoreline.
Nicola Lyness puts pressure on a Raphoe player. INLt 47-233-AMNicola Lyness puts pressure on a Raphoe player. INLt 47-233-AM
Nicola Lyness puts pressure on a Raphoe player. INLt 47-233-AM

From the start a determined Larne side applied pressure on the Donegal outfit and they dominated the first half.

The local girls unsettled Raphoe with their fast, attacking play, winning several short corners.

And Larne took the lead when Gillian Rennix finished a well-worked short corner with a reverse shot. Raphoe were then reduced to 10 players when a green card was shown after a defender was deemed to have deliberately stopped the ball with a foot.

Larne's Nichola Lyness tries a shot at the Raphoe line. INLT 47-227-AMLarne's Nichola Lyness tries a shot at the Raphoe line. INLT 47-227-AM
Larne's Nichola Lyness tries a shot at the Raphoe line. INLT 47-227-AM

Against the run of play, Larne conceded and Raphoe drew level minutes before the interval.

The Larne team continued the pressure into the second half. A good piece of play saw Gillian Russell drive into the Raphoe circle and beat their defence, restoring their advantage.

Raphoe were then awarded a penalty corner and they took this opportunity to level the score with a strike narrowly slotted in at the post.

The visitors then went ahead following a break when their forward rounding Larne keeper Lucy McClelland and finished well.

Raphoe scored their fourth soon after when the bounce of the ball wrongfooted Larne’s defence. A quick pass across the face of the goal was then slotted in at the far post.

In the dying minutes Diane Henry made a great run to the back line and fired in a powerful cross. Russell evaded her marker to brilliantly deflect the ball past Raphoe’s ‘keeper.

Larne proved that, despite their league position, they are a side that shouldn’t be underestimated and continued battling until the final whistle.

Larne: L. McClelland, L. Snoddy, N. Kempton (c), K. Neill, L. Booth, B. McFerran, G. Rennix, S. McGookin, B. McVeigh, G. Russell, A. McFall, D. Henry, P. Crawford.

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