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Sports

Carrick too strong for struggling Raphoe

Thursday, 2 February 2012

Carrick Ladies 1st XI 4 Raphoe 0: EVEN the unfamiliar surroundings of Larne's Greenland Sports Complex were insufficient to distract Carrick Ladies 1st XI, sponsored by Holmes Builders, from the job in hand as they put struggling Raphoe to the sword on Saturday afternoon.
With Carrick's home fixture having to be switched to Larne due to uncertainty with the playability of the Amphitheatre astro pitch surface, Raphoe might well have sensed a golden opportunity to unsettle their opponents.
But their early challenge effectively faded out mid way into the first half of the match due to a mixture of some excellent goalkeeping by Carrick's exciting young 'keeper Sarah Beattie, and some clinical finishing by Christine Waide and Chloe Mitchell.
Taking time to find their feet on the unfamiliar Greenland playing surface, Carrick had to work hard in the early minutes of the match to resist a lively Raphoe forward line.
And twice inside the opening ten minutes, they had their sixteen year old goalkeeper Sarah Beattie to thank for keeping the match scoreless when she pulled off two superb saves for her team firstly from a courageous penalty corner block and then a superb dive to edge an open play shot just wide of her net.
But as the tide slowly began to turn in Carrick's favour, Christine Waide opened her account on the day with one of her trademark unstoppable runs from just inside the half way line which ended almost inevitably with the ball bulging the back of the Raphoe net. And less than five minutes later Carrick went two ahead this time from a beautifully executed team effort involving Lois Passmore, Kerry McIlroy, and Chloe Mitchell. Passmore's neat feed set McIlroy off on a penetrating run down the right wing and deep into the Raphoe goal area.
A beautifully measured slip pass to Chloe Mitchell had the desired effect as the ever-impressive Carrick youngster coolly flicked the ball past the Raphoe goalkeeper and into the back of the net. The match was effectively over as a contest when Melissa Taylor added a third for Carrick just before half time.
In the second half Raphoe tried their best to extract some consolation from the game but they were continually denied by a rock solid Carrick defence. Christine Waide completed the scoring when she netted her second goal of the afternoon from a penalty corner strike.
Speaking immediately after the match, Carrick Ladies president Peter Stevenson was full of praise for his team's performance. "The first thing I'd like to do", said Peter, "is to apologise to any of our supporters who were caught out by today's last minute change of venue. The Amphitheatre pitch in Carrick has been suffering the adverse effects of continuing rain and we were unable to train on Wednesday evening as the pitch was closed due to waterlogging.
“We monitored the position over Thursday and Friday and when it looked as if there was little prospect of a useful dry spell, we had to take a final decision on Friday afternoon. We already have some outstanding home games yet to play and rather than risk postponing another important fixture, which looked likely, we agreed with Raphoe to relocate to Larne where I have to say the playing surface was in superb condition in spite of the recent rain and Friday night's late frosts.
“Losing the potential advantage of playing on our usual home ground was most definitely a concern to us but the girls responded superbly and today's 4-0 scoreline was a massive endorsement of their determination to produce a result in such trying circumstances. We also had to relocate our 2nd XI Junior Plate fixture to Larne for the same reason as the 1st XI game and they too did us proud today with an excellent win.
“I'd just like to reassure all of our supporters that we'll be doing everything possible to play out the remainder of our home fixtures at our usual Amphitheatre venue in Carrick. We know the authorities there will be doing their level best to address any ongoing waterlogging or pitch maintenance problems as a matter of urgency," added Peter.