Oliver nets Carrick’s first goal of season in draw with Rainey

Carrick Ladies Hockey Club 1st XI looked to have taken a crucial step forward in getting their faltering Senior Two season back on track on Saturday afternoon when they became the first team this season to take a point off the league’s front-runners, Rainey.
By The Newsroom
Published 17th Oct 2013, 00:03 BST
Natasha McWilliams takes a shot in the dying minutes of the game. INLT 42-419-RMNatasha McWilliams takes a shot in the dying minutes of the game. INLT 42-419-RM
Natasha McWilliams takes a shot in the dying minutes of the game. INLT 42-419-RM

With the Carrick girls having failed to find the net in their first three games, an early penalty corner strike from defender Julie Oliver raised loud applause from the watching spectators.

It was nothing less than Carrick deserved after they had harried and pressed their opponents right from the opening whistle.

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A Rainey equaliser just before half-time failed to dampen Carrick’s enthusiasm and they continued to force the play.

With both sides pressing hard for an advantage, a momentary lapse in concentration mid-way into the second period gifted the quick-thinking Rainey forwards a 2-1 lead. But Carrick pressed on with their original game plan and some excellent midfield and forward endeavour eventually forced the Rainey defence into an error, allowing Amy Cross to hammer the ball home into an unguarded net.

Rainey threw caution to the wind in their last-minute efforts to find a winner but as the entire Carrick squad closed ranks to deny them the time and space to effect a telling attack, the whistle eventually blew on an extremely hard-fought draw. Carrick’s Player of the Match was right-back, Katie Houston.

“We’re still looking for our first win of the new season,” said Carrick captain Christine Waide “and we definitely need a lot more points on the board. But, in terms of confidence building, that performance and result against the league leaders means nearly as much to us as a win.

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“We so needed to break our goal-scoring duck and we definitely did that in style with two well-taken goals.”

She added: “Our coaches Davy Menaul and Neil McConnell have been extremely supportive and helpful over the past few weeks and hopefully we can now start building on today’s performance and put together a few decent results.”

Elsewhere within the club, Carrick 2nd XI lost 4-0 away to North Down in Junior Three and their 3rd XI had a free week in Junior Six.

This weekend’s fixtures: (league matches): Carrick 1st XI home to Derg Valley (Carrick Amphitheatre 1 pm); Carrick 2nd XI home to Grosvenor (Friday evening 7.45 pm); Carrick 3rd XI away to Ards.