Sun shines on Priorians

PRIORIANS SECONDS welcomed Pegasus to St Columbs Park on Saturday. The sun shone brightly with temperatures reaching 17'C that made normal play hard for both teams.

From the whistle Prior players were motivated and knew they needed a win and they were rewarded after three minutes with a penalty corner. Gemma Devine's predator instinct put the ball in the back of the net after a well rehearsed set play.

This woke Pegasus up and they pushed hard attacking the right hand side of the pitch. Defenders Kristel, Olivia, Jenny and Hannah marked tightly and cleared the ball confidently.

Prior keeper Megan proved her worth with a watchful eye on Pegasus' one and only penalty corner in the first half. This penalty corner was well defended and cleared wide.

With only minutes until the half time whistle, Priorians took a quick free from the defence, getting it early to right wing Emma Sproule, who sprinted with gusto and expertly crossed it into the circle to find Devine who slammed it into goal. At half time a positive team talk from coaches Lesley Buchanan and Jackie Stewart spurred on the home side to try and secure the three points.

In the second half both teams battled hard with each team getting equal play on the ball. Pegasus penetrated the Prior defence making some skilful passes.

They were awarded a further penalty corner, however, they were unable to change the score line. Much like the second goal, the ball was released quickly from the defence, passed to centre forward Holly who carefully knocked it on to Emma Sproule, who repeated effective tactics and gave Gemma her first hat trick of the season. For this reason Devine was crowned Player of the Match.

Rounding off the season, Prior travelled to University of Ulster Elks, Jordanstown on Monday evening for the first of their two midweek matches. Following an 8-1 defeat at the beginning of the season, Priorians Ladies were determined to fight back and reduce the score line. It took a while for the girls to settle into the first half with an unfamiliar surface.

Both teams were playing attractive hockey with good communication and short sharp passes. Priorians defended well as a team and were unfortunate to see the score at 2-0 against them at half time.

Prior started the second half in much the same way with strong morale and upbeat. There were excellent passes from Priors mid field and defence to their forwards. There were many attempts on goal however the Elks defence remained focused and strong clearing the ball wide.

The home side took advantage of the water-based pitch passing long balls to the forwards who were quick to take shots in the circle. Their hunger for goals made the score line 4-0 at full time.

Prior came away from the game having achieved their objective. Player of the Match was Laura McDermott.