McConnell happy with pre-season performances

Robyn Poots battles for possession of the ball. INLT 33-911-CON

Two experimental Carrick squads took to the pitch - the A squad a mix of potential 1st XI and 2nd XI players and the B squad, a similar mix of potential 2nd XI and 3rd XI players.

Both Carrick sides opened their respective games looking the more lively and were rewarded with the opening strike of the day, Emma Nichols scoring for the A squad from a neat Chloe Mitchell feed. Rebecca McRoberts capped a very impressive opening spell for the B squad with an excellently finished goal.

However, in the second half as the hot weather took its toll, both Carrick squads fell behind to their fitter opponents ended with a 2-1 scoreline in favour of the visitors.

“Regardless of the scorelines I was extremely impressed with both sets of Carrick players,” said coach, Neil McConnell. “That was our first competitive outing after only a few training sessions and I was pleased to get the players back unto the pitch to get a proper workout.

“We played some really exciting hockey particularly in the opening halves and the girls gelled extremely well at such an early stage of the season. Our shape and endeavour looked good, but, clearly, we need to work hard on our fitness levels as we need to be able to protect an early lead for the full duration of our matches.

“I was also pleased with the number of scoring opportunities we created in both games and we’ll be working on improving our conversion rates as we move towards the new season. That was a bit of an issue for us last season as we should have scored a lot more goals from the chances we created.”

He added: “I think the girls really enjoyed getting back into competitive action so I’m expecting attendances at our two mid-week training sessions to improve considerably.

“At this time of year, it can be difficult for some players to get themselves back into a regular training mode. The performances encouraged me greatly and if we can build on that with improved fitness levels, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be in good shape for the new season.”