Purdy on target but Armagh too strong for Larne

Larne Ladies 1st XI are still searching for their first win after Saturday’s 4-1 defeat at home to Senior 1 leaders Armagh.
Zoe Purdy scored Larne's goal in Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Armagh.Zoe Purdy scored Larne's goal in Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Armagh.
Zoe Purdy scored Larne's goal in Saturday's 4-1 defeat to Armagh.

The Greenland girls opened the game looking the more lively and were putting the pressure on Armagh early on.

Gillian Russell had a goal disallowed on 15 minutes but the Umpire then awarded a penalty flick.

Zoe Purdy stepped up, calmly sending the ball into the back of the net.

But Armagh settled and began to stretch Larne. The visitors powered forward, only to see shots flash just wide of the goal.

A succession of penalty corners were expertly dealt with by the Larne defence, with keeper Trish Neill pulling off a couple of superb saves to keep their lead intact.

Larne were the stronger team in the opening minutes of the second half but the Armagh defence held strong.

The visitors rallied and, forcing a penalty corner, got themselves back on level terms thanks to a deflection.

This seemed to waken Armagh and they came back fighting and an excellent strike from the top of the circle saw them take the lead for the first time in the game.

Larne kept fighting to try and get another goal but attack after attack from Armagh resulted in them netting two more goals from open play in the last 10 minutes.

The visitors emerged victorious but Larne took major positives from a solid team performance.

Larne Ladies Hockey Club would like to thank Plata for sponsoring the match.

n Larne Ladies II edged to a 1-0 win over NICS II at Stormont on Saturday. The only goal of the game came in the second half when Polina Crawford calmly flicked the ball past the keeper after a strong shot from Kirsty Neill had been saved

The Thirds recorded a 3-1 win at Harlequins V in the first round of the Junior Cup. The hosts opened the scoring before Chloe McIlwaine’s reverse-shot brought the visitors level. McIIwaine netted her second from a penalty corner before Beth McFerran put the game beyond ‘Quins.

Fixtures: Knock v Larne; ‘Garvey IV v Larne II; Larne III v Raphoe II.

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