The U14 hockey training got underway in early September with the girls attending practices regularly, working hard on their fitness levels after the summer break.
The first encounter was Ballymoney High where we lost 4 nil. The squad fought hard and their major problem was not clearing the ball out of the circle quickly, using a push instead of a hard hit. Rachael Gleeson in goals tried her best with several saves. However during the return match the girls looked more composed, even though we lost by 3 nil. The hits and clearing of the ball to the wings were more evident.the team did not drop their heads and played hard to the end of the game.
The next match was against Ballycastle at home. With a few positional changes, the team looked more comfortable and the mid-field linked well supplying good passes to the wings who were running the ball down the line but the crosses lacked the final touch into goal. This was a close encounter but in the dying minutes a goal was scored from a loose pass giving Ballycastle the win.
The away match was played on astro-turf. This was unfamilar to the team but they seemed to enjoy this surface. Lauren Gleeson and Jayne Robinson linked up well dominating the centre of the pitch with Rebecca Duke putting in another fine performance as centre forward. As the game progressed the girls gained more confidence but could not open the score-line. Ballycastle pushed forward and scored two goals in the last five minutes and this was the final result.
The girls may not have won any matches but they did not give up and always fought to the end. They look forward to the new season with anticipation.
Team: Rachael Gleeson, Emma McCool, Erin Keeley, Lauren Gleeson, Emma Watton, Bobbie Harvey, Jayne Robinson, Clare Hill, Gemma Martin, Jessica Martin, Charmaine Doran, Sally Brown, Claire Cochrane and Roberta Smyth.
Results V Ballymoney (a) l 4 – 0
V Ballymoney (h) l 3 – 0
V Ballycastle (h) l 1 – 0
V Ballycastle (a) l 2 – 0
