Dalriada 1st XI entertain Omagh

Dalriada had a slow start but kept pressure on the Omagh defence.

Great runs made by Sophia Rodgers and Katie Mullan where made throughout the first half but unfortunately none were conceded.

Dalriada’s defence was put under huge amounts of pressure against the numerous breaks from the Omagh attackers, and unfortunately Omagh managed to grab an easy goal. After this the play was in Dalriada’s favour, keeping more control of the ball to dominate the rest of the first half, a penalty corner was given a few minutes from half time which was well run down before the Dalriada forwards had time to react.

Leaving the score 1-0 to Omagh at half time.

The half time talk consisted of both positive and negative feed back for the girls to improve the second half. The second half whistle blew and with a superb ariel from Katie Mullan the Dalriada team pushed up to get the game started. The second half was dominated, great hitting from Lynne McAuley at right back to find Manon Eymere in the centre put great pressure on Omagh’s sweeper but unfortunately no goals were scored at this time. When Omagh’s forwards did break through sweeper Lauren Ramage stepped up to take the ball and was well covered by Dalriada’s midfielders. Dalriada’s only goal came when Rebecca Turton crossed the ball across the goal which was swept in from right winger Shannon Calderwood and touched by Sophia Rodgers before crossing the goal line. With only a few minutes left of the match Omagh had not given up and were putting great pressure on the defence and on goalie Nicola McCollum. Composure kept the score level with Dalriada’s second match of the season at 1-1.

The Dalriada team would like to thank their coach Mrs Cleland and umpire Mrs Ruddock.

Dalriada Under 14’s A’s played their first match of the season at home against Omagh Academy. The first half started off well for Dalriada with the team dominating most of the play. There was superb passing from their forwards and midfields, Rachael Kennedy, Eva Carson and Lucy Buick, and in defence Rebbeca Mc Cabe and Emma Glenn made it difficult for Omagh to breakthrough. There were numerous shots on goal from the forwards but to no avail and the first half ended with no goals at either end. Dalriada started the second half with great determination and continued to create some good opportunities early in the half.

Slowly though Omagh started to come more into the game as Dalriada appeared to tire as time went on.

Unfortunately a break from an Omagh Academy forward led to the first goal and against the run of play.

This seemed to unsettle the team and within a minute an Omagh right wing scored a second goal. Despite the disappointment of going two nil down, Dalriada rallied and created a number of good chances with Claire Finnerty and Harriet Moore going close on a number of occasions, but it was not to be their day as they could not make the crucial breakthrough despite all their efforts. The final whistle blew leaving the score Omagh 2, Dalriada 0.

Although this was a defeat, Dalriada should take much encouragement from the good all round performance and the fact that they dominated a significant proportion of the match and on another day could have easily been victorious.

The U13A had an encouraging performance despite losing the game 2-0, the team showed great potential for the forthcoming season. The team would like to like to thank Mr Bradley for coaching and umpiring and thank all the parents who came along to show their support.

The team would like to thank Mrs Nikki Parke for coaching and umpiring.