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Carrick Ladies exit McConnell Shield

Wednesday, 20 January 2010

Portadown 4.
Carrick Ladies 1st XI 0.
CARRICK Ladies Hockey Club 1st XI, sponsored by Holmes Builders, failed in their attempt to book themselves a semi final appearance in this season's ONE1918 McConnell Shield when they were comprehensively dumped out of the competition by Portadown.
This was Carrick's third failure this season against Portadown, first in the league, then the ESB Irish Trophy, and now the McConnell Shield. And on all three occasions the key difference between the two sides has been Portadown's grit and determination to win each and every tackle whereas Carrick were too often out-muscled and out-manoeuvred by their more physically committed opponents.
For the first half hour of the match, Carrick looked reasonably comfortable, sharing equal possession with the home team but rarely looking capable of putting together a telling attack. Portadown on the other hand were moving the ball more fluently but unable to break down a sturdy Carrick defence. But with half time looming, Portadown eventually eased into a 1-0 lead when they netted a rebound from a Kelly Campbell save.
The match slipped drastically beyond Carrick's grip when they were then hit with a trio of Portadown goals, all within fifteen minutes of the opening whistle of the second half.
“We can at least be thankful there were no league points at stake," said Carrick captain Christine Waide after the match, "and hopefully we'll all have learned important lessons from today. Yes, we were all a bit stale after a four week lay off, but Portadown were in exactly the same position and it didn't seem to put them off their game! They're a really hard team to play against and we need to be exactly the same. We need to be sharper and more determined to get to the ball that split second earlier, both in defence and attack. All their goals were scored from open play and three of them were tucked away from rebounds. Every time we had a shot on goal, and we did have our chances, their defence were first to any rebound. And it's not all about fitness either, I think it's more of a mindset. Portadown had the belief and determination that we hadn't and, when it really mattered, they got there first. Individually we produced some encouraging performances, especially Caris Greenwood in only her second appearance for us, and Kerry McIlroy. Trish Neill also worked really hard today while Emma Boal surprised us with a very promising move to right wing when she came on as a substitute.
“So what we really need this Saturday," continued Christine, "is a Portadown style performance against PSNI. This will be our first return league match of the current season and we've scores to settle with those teams who beat us in the first half of the season. We lost 2-1 to PSNI in September in spite of having a lot more possession than them. This time we've got to make possession count, just like Portadown did today, and to be a lot less fragile against counter attack," added Christine.
This coming weekend's fixtures for Carrick Ladies Hockey Club are:
1st XI away to PSNI (Senior League fixture sponsored by Sandra Pyper Property Management)
2nd XI (to be announced)
3rd XI away to Dromore (Junior League fixture)

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