Priorians fail to take their chances

The previous league game against Carrickfergus had ended 2-2 and with the memories of being put out of the Plate by Carrick two weeks previous, the girls knew there was a difficult match ahead.

Priorians started well with excellent interlinking play from Claire Lightowlers and Bronagh Dougherty through the middle of the pitch.

However Carrick held a tight defence and began to man mark players making it difficult for Priors attacking defenders to make their usual runs.

Sheer determination and fighting sprits saw a number of attacks on the Carrick goal and eventually Priorians were rewarded with a penalty corner.

A slip across the top of the dee allowed Karen Campbell to have a clear strike with Kathryn Rough deflecting the ball at the left post into the back of the net.

Unfortunately the score was soon equalised when a Carrick penalty corner was blasted at knee height into the right hand corner making it an impossible ball for the defence to save.

The second half saw a strong press from Priorians, putting Carrick under a lot of pressure with great attacking runs up the left hand side by Heather Manning and Claire Whiteside.

After the break it was very evenly matched with the pace of the game at a high intensity. Carrick had a number of attacks that were easily dealt with by the solid Prior defence. However a second penalty corner saw Carrick move in front, as the ball slipped in at the left post.

Priorians upped the anti and were determined to equalise and a number of opportunities came Prior’s way with a number of supper runs and attacking balls from Kathryn Rough.

A high quality pass across the goal by Emma Sproule was inches from being squeezed in by the forwards. Ultimately Priorians were unable to convert a number of chances to gain a point from the game which ended 2-1.

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