Prior claimwin on the road

This was the first game of 2013 and after a string of draws towards the end of 2012, Prior were determined to change their luck.

The visitors believed the fact the Grosvenor walked away with a 3-0 victory over Prior at home gave them an added advantage so they could surprise the Belfast side who were probably expecting an easy game.

The game started slow but steady for Priorians with Grosvenor putting quite a bit of pressure on the away side, but about 10 minutes into the game Prior came to life.

Defensively they were solid with the Prior keeper Megan McClintock dealing with anything Grosvenor had calmly and effectively. This allowed the defence to show off some great passing and interlinking around the back between Rhonda Duddy, Kristel Brown, and Bronagh Doherty and great runs through from Sharon Karayainnis causing a lot of disruption in the Grosvenor side.

Priorians had found their feet their play was quick with a lot of solid passes putting a lot of pressure on Grosvenor, and although the score was still 0-0 they went into half time on a high.

Going into the second half Priorians knew they had to apply the same work rate if not more than the first half.

Again the side came out fighting, passing the ball smoothly through the mid-field with great switching of play from Netty Wilson, Claire Lightowlers and Karen Campbell cutting through Grosvenor’s midfield and defence.

Priorians were in their attacking circle choosing the option of passing calmly instead of just pointlessly hitting the ball and it paid off with the ball being confidently put into the net by Heather Manning, leaving the score 0-1.

This just made the away side more determined, this was the first sign of the side’s luck changing in the new year and they were not going to let this go.

The forwards were switching constantly with great interlinking between Claire Whiteside, Emma Sproule and Demi Harper leaving the Grosvenor defence confused and unorganised, this allowed a run through into the circle with from the midfield players leaving the keeper two on one and a great pass from Heather Manning to Kate Rough left the keeper with no chance to stop Kate scoring Priorians second goal.

This was a long awaited and well deserved win for Priorians. Every member of the First XI squad worked very hard to get this result – lets hope the winning continues through 2013. Joint players of the match were Netty Wilson and Bronagh Doherty.

Priorians next match takes place this Saturday when they face Dungannon at St Columbs Park.

Priorians: Megan McClintock, Rhonda Duddy, Kristel Brown, Sharon Karayainnis, Bronagh Doherty, Claire Lightowlers, Kate Rough, Netty Wilson, Karen Campbell, Heather Manning, Demi Harper, Claire Whiteside, Emma Sproule.