Dalriada through first Round of Junior Cup

The Dalriada Under-14A team started their campaign for the cup on Saturday against Grosvenor Grammar School in Belfast. Dalriada won the match on penalty strokes after the match ended 1-1. The Dalriada girls started off strongly, managing to keep the ball in possession for most of the first half. Midfielders Elle Kirgan, Olivia Mullan and Sarah Hadden played good hockey and made sure Grosvenor had a hard time keeping up. Unfortunately, this was not enough and Grosvenor broke through and scored a goal minutes before half time. In the second half, Dalriada upped their game, determined not to be knocked out in the first round. A penalty corner was won and an opportunity was seen. Olivia Mullan shot the ball into the back of the net and saw Dalriada into the back of the net. Extra time was taken as there had to be a winner to progress on but no goals were scored, this meant the pressurising penalty strokes had to be taken. After three unsuccessful tries, defenders Cara Telfer and Milenka Rygielska put the ball by the keeper. This was enough to seal victory as Grosvenor were unable to put any by Dalriada keeper, Jill Huey.

SECONDS XI

On Saturday Dalriada Second XI played at home to Cambridge house Ballymena. Dalriada started off strong with most of play in their half and a few opportunities in the circle; however Cambridge House defence was strong resulting in a 0-0 result at half time. The second half started similar to the first with many good runs up the pitch from the mid-field players Jill Leslie and Sophie Rollins. As result of strong defending by Captain Rebecca McCabe and Emma Glenn the ball was kept clear from Dalriada’s defending circle. Despite many good opportunities and shoots at goal, Dalriada did not manage to get a goal and at the end of match the result remained 0-0. Player of the match was shared by Becka Kennedy and Sophie Rollins. Thank you to Nicki Parke for umpiring this match.

THIRD XI

The Dalriada Third XI hockey team meet at the Joey Dunlop centre to play Cambridge House. Dalriada were victorious winning the match 1-0. The first half was dominated by Dalriada, with excellent attack from Kate Jamison (right mid) and Alice Dunlop (left forward), and the front and mid hard work paid off when the winning goal was scored by Dalriada in the first half of the match, by Alice Dunlop.

The second half was tougher for both sides as Cambridge House made a few breaks for the goals. Excellent saving from goalie, Hannah Taylor, and excellent defence by Rachel Wilson (right back), Anna Gaston, (centre back) and Ellen Kearny (left back) who all successfully prevented Cambridge House from scoring. The star player was Alice Dunlop for all her excellent hockey and scoring the goal.

The team would like to thank Nicki Park, for her excellent coaching, the Cambridge House coach and Catherine Knipe for umpiring.

UNDER-13S

Also on Saturday Dalriada under 13’s had an excellent win over Cambridge House 1-0. Cambridge House started strong in the first ten minutes with numerous opportunities to score but were unable to break through Dalriada’s defence. As the first half continued Dalriada were able to get the ball away from their goal and start to create opportunities towards the Cambridge House goal.

In the second half Dalriada were the more dominant team and again created opportunities to score with a long corner being awarded. This was taken by Anna Kennedy who passed to Meg Ritchie who was able to strike into the back of the net. Cambridge House fought back after their centre pass and on attempting to score were awarded three penalty corners in succession. None of these proved successful and when the final whistle blew Dalriada had won their first match of the season