Raphoe ladies maintain their unbeaten start in Senior 1

RAPHOE LADIES 1st XI continue their unbeaten record in Senior 1 against Grosvenor on Saturday in a battle of the newly-promoted teams.

Raphoe Ladies 1^st XI 3 Grosvenor Ladies 1^st XI 1

The deadlock was broken by the hosts 25 minutes in. Rachel Buchanan broke down play in the Grosvenor defence and with a flying run she whipped a pass in from the right-hand side to the waiting stick of Sarah Patterson, who slotted home.

Picture caption: Raphoe goalkeeper Denise McElhinney saves a shot on goal from a short corner.

Half time was beckoning and the defensive line of Louise Moran, Victoria Wray, Lyndsey Tinney and Arlyne Kilpatrick were holding strong and keeping a watchful eye on the attacking players, making tackles and breaking down dangerous play.

With the break only minutes away Grosvenor won a controversial short corner with Wray receiving a green card.

The resulting short corner was well broken down, only for the umpire to award a second short corner, from which Grosvenor equalised.

Raphoe made a positive start to the second half. With the opposition under consistent pressure it was only a matter of time before a second Raphoe goal came.

16 minutes into the second half Patterson found herself at the goalmouth once more. She took her shot and, while it was on target, it was going to hit fellow player Sabrina Barnett.

However, Barnett used her wealth of experience and with excellent control took the ball down and slid it into the left-hand corner.

The third goal came when Arlyne Kilpatrick glanced up and picked a free Lyndsey Tinney in the centre of the pitch.

Tinney fed Rachel Buchanan and with pin point-precision Buchanan found the incoming stick of Esther Hume, who rammed home the third and final goal of the game.

Raphoe didn’t have the second half all their own way. Grosvenor threatened, however Raphoe were up to the challenge and Denise McElhinney made things difficult for the visitors while Sarah Boal also came up with a last-ditch clearance.

Player of the match was awarded to Victoria Wray for her impressive defensive display.

Elsewhere, Raphoe Ladies 2^nd XI played Derg Valley 2^nd XI away in Castlederg. Kirsty McKinney scored Raphoes only goal from a well executed short corner, bringing the sides in at 1 each at half time. The second half started off strongly for Raphoe, however with a weakened defence, Derg hit home with two goals and the game ended in a 3-1 defeat for Raphoe.

Next week, Raphoe 1^st face Rainey away in what promises to be another competitive match up whilst our 2^nd XI travel to play Coleraine 2^nd XI in Junior 6.

Raphoe: Denise McElhinney, Victoria Wray, Lyndsey Tinney, Arlyne Kilpatrick, Sarah Boal, Louise Moran, Shannon Porter, Esther Hume, Sarah Patterson, Rachel Buchanan, Kimberly Porter, Sabrina Barnett, Leanne Patterson, Wendy Patterson.