Ladies win hands 'Down'!

Ballymena settled into the match from the word go and the scoreline by half time reflected their dominance. Sarah Gage opened the scoring with a diving touch of the ball after the goalkeeper lay the ball right in front of Gage, who reacted superbly reflecting the determination of the home side to win this week.

Rebecca Reynolds then added two goals of her own, her movement and timing around the goal mouth causing bewilderment among the defence as she accurately angles her stick to deflect moving balls into the net.

Being 3-0 up, Ballymena appeared to be cruising, but this meant they took their foot off the pedal for the last 10 minutes of the first half, allowing North Down to come back at them.

Luckily for Ballymena, their opponents failed to make this most of this period and a firm word during the break ensured they stepped up their game again when the second half began.

Ballymena's fourth goal came from Jackie McWilliams with a lob over the keeper from a penalty corner, a technique that has been perfected by McWilliams and which has 'tricked' so many defences over the years.

McWilliams then went on to add a second goal of her own after some passing inside the circle, notching up five in total for Ballymena.

North Down did come back with a goal of their own on the counter attack but Ballymena were too much in the driving seat to allow any type of comeback to materialise.

The Ballymena supporters were treated to five great goals by their team but unfortunately the game was marred in the second half by a couple of unfortunate incidents.

North Down's coach allowed his frustrations to impair his professionalism and despite being warned, continued to abuse the umpires. This resulted in the North Down captain sitting out for five minutes, taking the punishment for her coach.

North Down also had to deal with one of their players being accidentally struck in the jaw after sticks were entangled while trying to control an air ball. The player needed medical help and an ambulance had to be called for. Ballymena Hockey Club would like to wish the player a speedy recovery.

This will certainly be an unforgettable match for the firsts, but it will be the memory of the five goals in this 5-1 win that they will take with them into their next match, as they aim to keep up this form against Victorians in Belfast at the weekend.

Ballymena: Emma Leslie, Becky Linford, Catherine McCracken, Suzanne Bell, Beth Dinsmore, Jenny Dixon, Jackie McWilliams, Sarah Gage, Rebecca Reynolds, Sally Roddy, Kirsten Young, Jessica Duncan, Jenny Sutherland, Aimee Logan.

SECONDS

Pegasus III 1, Ballymena II 0: Ballymena Seconds had to travel to Belfast on Friday night but despite having most of the possession, lost 1-0 to Pegasus Thirds.

Ballymena were the better team and started strongly with a determined attitude. One break by Pegasus was all they needed to turn the match in their favour as they took their opportunity and scored.

But Ballymena responded well and lifted their game to again force the Belfast team to defend. The pressure from the visitors increased as they won a number of penalty corners but were unlucky to score and so Pegasus led 1-0 at half time.

Ballymena showed great positivity as they came out in the second half even stronger. Again they played mostly in Pegasus' half but the home side hung on through more corners; Nicola Greer's shot going agonisingly wide.

It wasn't to be Ballymena's night, even though they were the better team and were under very little defensive pressure during the match.

Ballymena will hope to turn around this 1-0 defeat when they play Pegasus at the Showgrounds in the return match.

Player of the match was Jessica Duncan

Seconds: Joanne Logan, Ashleigh Harbinson, Megan Rae, Nicola Greer, Katie Houston, Jessica Duncan, Jenny Sutherland, Jenny Paul, Laura McKelvey, Lorna Murphy, Lauren Kennedy, Amy Logan.

THIRDS

Ballyclare III 2, Ballymena III 1: The ladies thirds were cruelly beaten 2-1 by Ballyclare in a game they should have won but will certainly be out to see justice done in the return match at home.

Fifteen year old Amy Logan led the Ballymena attack as she ran continually at the defence causing all sorts of problems for them.

The Dunclug Schoolgirl shone above the rest of the field, firing balls in and around the Ballyclare circle only to be denied again and again by the opposing keeper who had an excellent game.

The young player of the match has displayed much of her talent over the games she has had for the club but this was certainly her best match yet and the club will want to ensure she has many more.

Ballymena will be disappointed by the result as they played very well as a team, with no substitutes, their passing was particularly good and some great runs at the defence resulted in over 10 corners. Alison Caldwell, Julie Robinson, Clare Headden and Mandy McComb all had shots on goal but could only manage to get the ball over the line once.

Ironically, while Ballymena pushed players up to pressurise the home side, Ballyclare stormed through the pitch giving the remaining defenders little chance to stop them and punished Ballymena with two goals to win the match 2-1.

The Thirds will hope to continue with a good team performance against Lurgan 4ths in their next match but will need to ensure they are positioned well to deal with counter attacks if they are to prevent being caught out again.

Thirds: Rebecca McCandless, Carolyn Heron, Samantha Russell, Lisa Thompson, Helen Russell, Judith Doyle, Alison Caldwell, Julie Robinson, Clare Headden , Mandy McComb, Amy Logan.

MEN

Ballymena 2, Foyle 0: It was Ballymena's youngest two players who scored for the men's firsts in their delighted 2-0 win against 10 man Foyle at the showgrounds on Saturday.

It's been five weeks since the firsts had their last win, and with heavy defeats since then, they were determined to break this losing spell and get themselves back on to winning ways.

Both of the home side's goals came in the first half. Matthew Corbett scored his goal from close range and Tori Alexander found the left hand corner of the net with a perfectly executed shot, giving Ballymena a confortable 2-0 lead at half time.

But Ballymena could have increased their win in the second half, if they had taken all their scoring opportunities. Davey McDonald hit the post and captain Chris Hogg agonisingly saw his penalty stroke saved by the Foyle keeper. The ball was also cleared off the visitors' line later in the match and appeals for another stroke were unsuccessful.

Ballymena have keeper Alister Gibson to thank for some excellent saves from drag flicks and the return of Andrew Bell to the club is a huge boost to the team.

Although Foyle were a man down, Ballymena appeared a renewed team during the match and hope to remain so when they travel to Larne on Saturday.

Ballymena: Alister Gibson, Andrew Lorimer, Davey McDonald, Chris Hogg, Andrew Shields, Tori Alexander, Andy Bell, Victor Orr, Mark Monteith, Andrew McKelvey, Matthew Corbett, Alister Hanna.