Ballymena Hockey Club round-up: men held in first game

BALLYMENA faced Parkview in their first competitive match of the season in the Sussex Regiment Cup and recorded a 2-2 draw.

Having beaten Parkview twice already, in pre-season friendlies, the hosts were therefore quietly confident in their ability to secure the win.

Having said this, the visitors too had got off to a good start in this competition securing impressive victories against both Omagh and PSNI.

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Surprisingly though, given Ballymena’s air of confidence, the home side got off to a somewhat sluggish start while Parkview on the other hand, displayed plenty of purpose.

Parkview bossed the midfield battle early on and had better statistics in terms of possession. Nonetheless, the hosts rode out this initial period of pressure and began to sense a vulnerability at the back for Parkview.

The visitors, who had failed to force a breakthrough, only had themselves to blame for allowing Ballymena back into the game. Soon after the home side forced a short corner which resulted in the opener for Ballymena when Tory Alexander slotted home an impressive drive into the bottom right hand corner of the net.

Following this Ballymena’s confidence grew and they dominated possession for the remainder of the first half. Their new found aggression was further rewarded just before the interval when debutant, Tim Lowry, scored an impressive goal from an acute angle to give the hosts a reasonably comfortable two goal cushion going into half time.

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A lack of good fortune, in the second half, seemed to sap Ballymena’s confidence and they quickly relinquished their advantage. The two goals they gave away disappointed the home side and given that the Parkview efforts were rather sloppy affairs from short corners

Ballymena felt that the result was somewhat undeserved. To add insult to injury it’s also the case that this result could all but stifle Ballymena’s hopes of progressing to the latter stages of this competition.

Ballymena: Eddie Hampton, Andrew Bell, Andrew Shields, Chris Hogg (Capt), Clive Fulton, Andrew Crooks, Tory Alexander, Victor Orr, Mark Allison, David Holmes, Alex McKeown, Tim Lowry.

Kilkeel III 7, Ballymena II 0: Ballymena Men’s 2nd XI traveled to Kilkeel on Saturday eager to gain their first league points in their campaign.

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Not surprisingly, after such a long journey, Ballymena were slow to start and had to absorb a lot of early pressure from the home side.

Ballymena defenders McDowell, Bradley, Donald and Healy staved off repeated assaults on their goal for some 20 minutes during the first half, in what can only be described as an impressive defensive stand repelling everything that Kilkeel dared throw their way.

Using the energy of Mark Monteith and the guile of Ken Murphy Ballymena mounted their counter but found the Kilkeel defence an equally hard nut to crack.

A deliberate foot in the circle, adjudged to have prevented a goal, awarded Kilkeel a penalty flick which they duly converted. This opened the flood gates and Kilkeel scored twice more, in quick succession, to go into the interval with a healthy and well-earned lead.

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Ballymena tackled, battled, denied space and dominated territory for a time in the second half and despite the fact that the visitors had thrown a fifth midfielder into the mix it was Kilkeel who really caught the eye. The home side’s endeavours were soon rewarded with two further goals in a passage of play which lasted barely 15 minutes.

Ballymena continued to push forward when opportunities presented themselves and created legitimate chances on the counter. It has to be said that Ballymena were unlucky that least two of these chances didn’t result in goals when a Lorimer short corner shaved past the wrong side of the post and a Monteith reverse sweep came agonizingly close.

In the dying minutes of this match then it was Kilkeels superior fitness which gave the home side the advantage and in a final flurry they added two more goals - and but for the heroics of James Birrell, Ballymena might have found themselves on the wrong side of an even bigger deficit!

Seconds: James Birrell(GK), Alister Hanna(Capt), Dave Bradley, Steven Healy, Ken Murphy, Al Donald, Aaron Murphy, Mark Monteith, Paul McDowell, Andy Lorimer, Matt O’Neill.

LADIES

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Ballymena 1, Lisnagarvey 4: Ballymena Ladies, fresh from a confident victory over Larne mid-week had high hopes for this contest with a Lisnagarvey side relegated from the premier league last season.

However, the home side’s optimism was soon dashed when straight from the off when a youthful Lisnagarvey slotted in an early goal. The poor defensive aspect of Ballymena’s play left the home side reeling after less than two minutes of play.

A shell shocked Ballymena regrouped and for a time traded attacks with Garvey in the sun soaked astro turf of the Showgrounds.

However it was Garvey who were sharper to the ball and swifter to use and they were not to be denied for long, finally reaping their reward after 19 minutes when a long ball shot across the goal and was deflected in off Sara Allen’s stick.

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Ballymena did their best to contain Garvey and for a time created a few chances of their own but a penalty corner after 28 minutes saw the visitors score again from a slipped strike leaving Ballymena 3-0 down at half time.

Ballymena opened the second half with new found determination but Lisnagarvy seemed to have the edge and it fell to Grace McBurney to save the home side further embarrassment by clearing a rasping Garvey drive off the line.

Ballymena failed to recreate the attacking fluency that had afforded them the win during the week but they did manage to strike back in no small measure due to the diligence of Becky Reynolds and Susie Morrison who forced the penalty corner which was duly dispatched by Sara Allen.

Garvey came close again on the counter, from a penalty corner which crashed high off post 7 minutes in. Julie Doak from Garvey then tested the Ballymena Keeper, Emma Leslia, with a powerful strike which Leslie impressively pushed to safety.

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Although chances for the hosts were limited they pressed Garvey hard in last ten minutes and Clare Gillespie ably assisted with young Amiee Logan and Jessica Duncan all tested the mettle of the Garvey keeper.

In the closing stages of the game it is fair to say that both sides carried a threat but it was Garvey who provided the quality to engineer a fourth goal from another penalty corner.

Ballymena did, at times, play some technically smart and creative hockey and their work rate was admirable so from this at least they can draw some positives’.

Ballymena: Emma Leslie, Sara Allen, Susanne Morrison, Grace McBurney, Catherine McCracken, Jessica Duncan, Jenny Sutherland, Clare Gillespie, Kirsten Young, Aimee Logan, Becky Reynolds, Zoe Dickson.

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Banbridge 1, Ballymena II 1: Ballymena got off to a tremendous start, frustrating and confounding the Banbridge defence with selfless play on the part of their forwards, nonetheless an early goal eluded them.

Try as they might the visitors failed to turn opportunities into goals even from a penalty corner. Still they launched wave after wave of attacks on the weary Banbridge defence, to no avail. Finally Aimee Logan caused havoc in the Banbridge area and betrayed the home side’s vulnerability to slot one home, break the deadlock and give the visitors the advantage.

The match continued much in the same vein with both teams squandering opportunities to score and although Ballymena had most of the run of play Banbridge’s persistence eventually paid off and they won a penalty corner. This resulted in the equaliser much to Ballymena’s dismay. Unfortunately the visitors failed to reply and despite their determination the score remained at one all. However, having gained their 1st league point, Ballymena should be encouraged by their overall performance and the promise they showed this Saturday in Banbridge.

Seconds: Stephanie Storey, Kirsty McMaster, Ashleigh Harbison, Nicola Greer, Sarah Cundell, Maudie McDonald, Sharon Reid, Lynsey McClintock, Lorna Murphy, Aimee Logan, Charlotte Andrews, Emma Johnston.