It was a night of home comforts as the 2018 North West Women’s Super League swung into action with wins for Fanad United, Bonagee United, Illies Celtic and Greencastle FC.
Picture: Illies Celtic, last year’s champions, were among the winners last night
Fanad United 5 Clonmany Shamrocks 0
Amanda Callaghan’s hat-trick helped Fanad United mark their return to senior ladies football in style at Traigh-A-Loch on Thursday night.
Fanad started the game the strongest and was creating great football going forward with great link up play between Callaghan and Zoe Green.
The first goal came early for Fanad when they were awarded a penalty and Callaghan stepped up to finish well.
Clonmany were good in spells getting the ball down and playing well.
Green was providing great football for Fanad and was starting to find great through balls behind the Clonmany defence.
Callaghan got her second of the night when she broke free and finished well. Noelle McMenamin was working tirelessly up front for Fanad and was unlucky to not get on the scoresheet.
The second half saw Fanad pick up where they left off and was once again playing great football out from the back with Hannah Shiels making great attacking runs.
Lauren Carr and Orla McGonigle worked well together in Midfield with Laura Dugera having a great individual performance on the night which was rewarded with a goal of her own.
Callaghan got her hatrick which was well deserved from the captain who showed her class throughout the game.
Green came close on both occasions hitting the crossbar. The Fanad defence done well when called upon and were very relaxed in their play.
Julie Treaty came off the bench to score the final goal of the night for Fanad Utd and took her finish very well.
Good team performance from Clonmany Shamrocks.
Great overall performance from the Fanad Ladies with Amanda, Zoe and Laura Dugera having a brilliant game on the night.
Bonagee United 6 Carndonagh FC 1
Captain Natalie McFadden struck a brilliant hat-trick as Bonagee United got their North West Women’s Super League season off to a fine start at Dry Arch Park.
McFadden, deeply involved in all levels at Bonagee, has been recently appointed as the club captain for 2018 and toasted the armband’s arrival with a treble to sink Carndonagh.
Bonagee were dominant for the most part and they broke the deadlock on 25 minutes. Chantelle Grant’s superb through ball after excellent graft in midfield invited Claire Orr to have a go. Orr scampered in from the left and fired home.
By that stage, McFadden and Grant had the ball in the net, but both were ruled out for offside infringements.
Before half-time, Bonagee had their lead doubled as Amy Thompson finished from a pin-point Grant corner.
Thompson marshalled the Bonagee defence well and helped keep Carn at bay.
In all, Bonagee were denied four times by the woodwork with Alice Diver’s header cannoning off the post in the first half.
Grant, McFadden and Julie McCloy, who turned in a tireless shift for the hosts, were also thwarted by the goal-frame, while Anna Doherty had a ‘goal’ ruled out for off-side.
Just after the break. McFadden added a third with a neat finish and Grant powered through to make it 4-0.
The goal of the night saw McFadden work the chance for herself and power high into the net.
But Carn, kept battling with Enya Gibbons, Rosemary Doherty and Naoimh Callaghan to the fore.
Callaghan pulled a goal back when Callaghan riffled home, but there was still time for Bonagee to bag another as McFadden completed her hat-trick as she turned home from close range.
Illies Celtic 7 Lagan Harps 2
Champions Illies Celtic got the defence of their North West Women’s Super League title off and running as John Doherty’s side swept to a win over Lagan Harps.
This game brought together last year’s winners and runners-up, but it was Illies who came out on top.
Illies had seven different scorers with Aisling McDaid, Caroline Gallagher, Aoife Bell, Alana Doherty, Caitlin Devlin, Deirdre Grant and Kirsty Downey all on target.
Heather Doughtery and Bronagh Gallagher struck the goals for Lagan.
Greencastle v Moville
Greencastle had a lopsided win over Moville on Thursday night.
Sarah Faulkner led the way for Greencastle while Kate McClenaghan helped herself to a hat-trick.
Republic of Ireland schools international Kerry Brown was among the goals for the Greeks.
Eimear McLaughlin, Eilish Havelin, Kathy McLaughlin, Emer Gillen and Ellen Hegarty all impressed for Greencastle, while Aisling McGuinness netted a consolation goal for Moville.
FIXTURES
Thursday, May 10, 7.30pm
Greencastle FC v Bonagee United
Clonmany Shamrocks v Carndonagh
Moville v Lagan Harps
Fanad United v Illies Celtic
