Important cup victories provide boost for hockey club

MEN

St James’ Gate 0, Ballymena 2: Ballymena men’s 1st XI travelled to Dublin for their opening tie in the Irish Hockey Challenge Cup.

Most of the play was focused on the right hand side of the park where Ballymena and in particular Davy McDonald, seemed to have acres of space at his disposal.

McDonald used this space to great effect but despite his ingenuity and their dominance, the visitors failed to break the deadlock at all in the first half with their only goal scoring opportunities coming from a number of short corners.

As the second half commenced, goalscoring opportunities seemed to be easily carved out by the Ballymena forwards and, but for the heroics home side’s keeper, Ballymena could easily have put this tie to bed.

Two excellent saves denied O’Neill and Lorimer their honours but soon Ballymena’s patience paid off. A well orchestrated move involving Crooks and O’Neill found Allison in the ‘D’ who finished off with a skilfully placed reverse sick shot into the back corner of the net 1-0.

Ballymena were soon in control again and were bearing down on the host’s goal line, eager to put this tie beyond any doubt. Sure enough, as play drew to a close, Andrew Shields did just that with a screamer into the back of the net 2-0 from a superb passage of play from the Ballymena forwards.

Ballymena: Eddie Hampton, Andrew Bell, Chris Hogg (capt), Andrew Crooks, David McDonald, Clive Fulton, Victor Orr, Andrew McKelvey, Matthew O’Neill, Tim Lowry, Andrew Lorimer, Andrew Shields, Mark Allison

Ballymena II 4, Mossley VI 0: Ballymena Men’s 2nd XI returned to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over Mossley 6th XI at the Showgrounds on Saturday.

Midway through the half it was Ken Murphy who broke the deadlock with the slightest of touches to a ball driven into the circle by Alister Hanna for Ballymena to take a 1-0 lead.

Ballymena continued to probe the Mossley back line through Phil Moody and Brendan Wenban, although at the break the score remained unchanged.

Again, following at the restart, Mossley pressed for an equaliser but the home side countered and soon scored their second goal courtesy of some excellent play from Phil Moody, who afforded Brendan Wenban the opportunity for a canny touch over the line 2-0.

Ballymena’s vein of pressure continued as Midfielders Barr, Gibson and David Wenban worked tirelessly to engineer numerous opportunities for their forwards. It was Moody and Wenban combining again for Ballymena’s third goal and Wenban’s second, following the initial Moody strike 3-0. A short time later Moody too was rewarded with Ballymena’s fourth to put the game beyond the reach of a Mossley side who’s only hope now was to press for a consolation goal, as play drew to a close.

And, for a time, it looked as if they might just pull it off with a late flurry which did pose some problems at the back for Bradley, Lorimer and McDowell. The Ballymena keeper was more than competent at the back though and as the final whistle blew the host’s sheet was remained clean 4-0 and a pleasing win for the home side.

Thanks also from the team to Phil Nicholl for umpiring.

Seconds: J Birrell(GK) D McDowell, D Bradley, D Lorimer, A Hanna, D. Wenban, W. Barr, K. Murphy, P. Moody, B. Wenban, J. Gibson.

LADIES

Ballymena 2, NICS 0: It was with sheer grit and determination that Balymena Ladies progressed to the Final of the Ulster Senoir Cup at Stormont.

NICS are no slouches though and, in the opening minutes of the game from a penalty corner, Becky Reynolds saved a certain goal from a well placed shot aimed high at the corner of the net.

Ballymena countered and the combined efforts of Kirsten Young, Jess Duncan and Aimee Logan forced a penalty corner at the other end of the pitch but on this occasion the goal eluded them.

Still Ballymena had the bit between their teeth now and they continued to press the beleaguered NICS defence. Another penalty corner and this time Ballymena made it count. A formidable strike from Susanne Morrison and the resulting deflection opened the scoring for the visitors 1-0.

This was end to end hockey now and the host’s were on the offensive. The Service were on target from a penalty corner but the athleticism of Emma Leslie kept them out with a magnificent save, much to the dismay of the host’s forwards! It has to be said though that the Ballymena defence in the form of McBurney, McCracken, Allen and Morrison were making the going, for the MICS defence, very tough indeed.

As play commenced in the second half Ballymena picked up where they had left off with a flurry into the hosts’ half before they had time to catch their breath. An interception and inch perfect pass to Aimee Logan, who then flicked to ball high into the corner of the net past the bewildered NICS keeper extended Ballymena’s lead to 2-0. Service sensed their predicament and attempted to make amends by committing numbers forward.

Ballymena’s defence stood firm though and the host’s simply couldn’t break through. The visitor’s were the boss of the mid filed too and their style of hockey was very pleasing to the eye. T

hree penalty corners in a row and Sara Allen was unlucky not to bag a third goal for Ballymena when her reverse stick shot was somehow saved by the Service keeper. The match played out and the score line stood 2-0 for the visitors.

Ballymena: E. Leslie, G. McBurney, S. Allen, S. Morrison, C. McCracken, J. Duncan, A. Hempsey, C. Gillespie, K. Young, A. Logan, R. Reynolds, L. Kennedy, N. Mcmullan.

Ballymena II 1, North Down II 1: Ballymena got off to a good start against North Down and took the lead with a goal which came from a free within their 25.

Nicola Greer pushed the ball to Aimee Logan who left the Down defenders in her wake and passed the ball into the circle. Lorna Murphy, already in position gratefully received the pass and hammered it home 1-0 just before half time.

North Down earned a share of the spoils from a penalty corner in the second half. Keeper Joanne Logan saved the initial attempt but the rebound was hammered home.