Great run keeps on going for Ladies

Dromore Amateurs 3

DROMORE Ladies travelled to Inver Park on Wednesday June 2 in their latest NIWFA Championship game.

The match was played on a very hard surface and Larne, after winning the toss, opted to play down the slope and play with the bright sun behind them.

Early exchanges between the two teams seem concentrated in the midfield area with that final pass and shot just not appearing. Larne set their stall out early as any free kick or dead ball was smashed towards goal by their tall centre half.

On 13 minutes Dromore got behind the Larne defence as Jill Bruce beat the offside trap but unfortunately her cross went straight to the home keeper. At the other end Laura Magowan in the Dromore goal had a lucky escape as a long free kick cleared both her and the crossbar.

After this though she took control and took a dangerous in swinging corner and held on to all that Larne could muster at her goal.

On 36 minutes Ciara McElderry found herself free on the edge of the box, she unleashed a shot which the home keeper appeared to push onto the post and out for a corner but the ref pointed for a goal kick. It was a disappointing half for both teams although both the heat and poor pitch contributed to a half time score of Larne 0 Dromore 0.

Roger McCartan rallied his team telling them to keep playing the same football which has seen them win their last three games, he also replaced an ineffective Lauren Gibson with Louise Kelly.

The girls went out and almost immediately took the fight to Larne but then a lapse in concentration saw the Larne centre half hit Dromore’s crossbar from all of 30 yards.

This seemed to push Dromore on and in the 53rd min a great ball to Ciara saw her cross the ball into the box where Kerry Taggart met it and swept it into the Larne net. The relief amongst both players and management was evident as at last the deadlock had been broken.

Three minutes later Larne conceded a free kick on the edge of their box but Nicky Clements blasted over. Dromore kept the pressure on and 67 minutes in Louise managed to head over a Tracy Orr corner when it seemed easier to score.

Louise was now taking control of the midfield and her strong powerful runs were causing the home defence all sorts of problems. In 75th minute Louise was pulled down again outside the box and this time Tracy stepped up and smashed the ball high into the Larne goal.

Roger then substituted Nicky for Laura Stewart with Amy-Louise moving into the centre forwards positition.

A succession of Dromore attacks were broken up by Larne’s centre half but in 81st minute as Kerry raced away into the Larne box all the Larne defender could do was pull her down. The ref awarded a penalty and sent off the Larne player. Tracy stepped up and made no mistake scoring her second and Dromore's third.

Laura Magowan was on her guard as in 86th minute the Larne winger had her diving full length to her left to push the ball away for a corner from a fierce 25 yard shot. The last few minutes were played and Dromore had not only secured another win but also their fourth clean sheet in a row.

Best for Dromore was sub Louise who never stopped running the entire half, Laura in the Dromore goal whose handling was first class and Tracy for two great goals. Yet again the defence snuffed out any threat while at the other end the on fire Kerry looked like scoring at every opportunity.

A few weeks past Roger had asked his players to win their next three games and the players responded winning all three scoring eight and conceding none. Dromore now sit in third place in the league, three points behind pacesetters Loughgall and Fermanagh.

This week sees Dromore at home to Donegal Celtic tomorrow (Wednesday) who are two points behind the locals.