Larne get 2014 off to a losing start against Ballymena

With confidence high, Ballymena started convincingly with a well-worked goal in the opening moments. Larne took control of the game after the initial blow and dominated for the first period of the half and were unlucky not to convert a number of chances.

Ballymena came back into the game and doubled their lead from a penalty-corner. The remainder of the half saw both teams creating chances but the Larne girls couldn’t find that final pass and never really looked like scoring.

The second half saw a much better passing game from Larne, however an unfortunate mis-control of the ball in the Larne circle allowed Ballymena to further increase their advantage.

Larne then conceded numerous penalty corners, resulting in another goal for Ballymena.

The home side pressed the Ballymena defence hard for the last 15 minutes but it was too little too late, and a goal was not meant to be.

All in all, a poor performance led to a disappointing result, but Larne hope to get back to winning ways when they travel to Omagh next week.

Larne Ladies: T. Neill, G. Russell, R. Beggs, Rebecca Dalton, M. Finlay, G. Rennix, Ruth Dalton (c), C. Holmes, I. Carmichael, K. McIlwaine, L. Craig, L. Withers, Z. Purdy.

Ballymena Ladies 2nd XI 2

Larne Ladies 2nd XI 0

Larne 2nd XI travelled to Ballymena on Saturday, hoping to put distance between themselves and their closest rivals for second place in the league.

However, within the first minute of the game, Ballymena took the lead. Larne began to dominate possession but were unable to capitalise on their opportunities.

Midway through a hotly-contested second-half Ballymena made another breakthrough, with a neat solo run well converted. Ballymena were reduced to 10 players towards the end of the game but held on for the win. This weekend the Seconds take on Newry 1st XI in the Intermediate Cup.

Fixtures: Omagh v Larne; Newry 1st XI v Larne II (Intermediate Cup); Larne III v Mossley III.