College beaten in semi

After drawing 1-1 with Omagh Academy they lost out in the penalty flick shoot out.

The match was part of a double header hosted at Lisnagarvey Hockey Club, with Strathearn and Royal School Armagh battling it out in the second semi-final of the day.

The College team started well, forcing early pressure and were rewarded with an early series of short corners which the Omagh keeper did well to defend. In fact the visiting keeper was outstanding in denying the Lurgan attack an early goal to settle their nerves.

Midway through the first half, following a persistent spell in the Omagh circle, Bethany Barr pounced on a raised deflection from the Omagh keeper and directed it into the goal to leave Lurgan 1-0 up going into half-time.

Omagh struck back early in the second half when they capitalised on a missed interception by the Lurgan defence for their equaliser.

Lurgan, realising that the clock was ticking, threw everything forward but once again the Omagh keeper was instrumental in keeping the teams deadlocked until full-time.

Extra time ensued, and with the College side dominating every aspect of play, it appeared only a matter of time before the second goal would come. However, any Lurgan strike on target was swiftly dealt with by the player of the match on the day – their keeper.

At the end of extra time, penalty strokes ensued, and the game suddenly switched in favour of Omagh with their keeper in such fine form.

Following the coin toss Lurgan elected to go first, but this strike was stopped by the keeper. Omagh stepped up with their first and calmly dispatched the ball into the corner. The College missed their second and third through good saves from the keeper, while having scored their second, Omagh just needed to secure their third to win the game. This they did, therefore enabling them to progress to the final, where they will meet Royal School Armagh.

The College team were devastated to have exited the cup at this stage, and especially given that they dominated play for most of the game. However there is some consolation in the fact that this is a very young team with a lot of new faces, none of whom leave next year.

It has also been encouraging that they reached the semi-final stage despite their lack of schools cup experience, a factor that will undoubtedly stand them in good stead next year.