Lurgan Town Ladies recovered from last week’s defeat, to win away to Ballynahinch Ladies on a damp misty evening at Assumption Grammar School 3G.
The team seemed to take a while to adapt to the fast slippy surface, and trusty mid-fielder Ciara Lynn gave the team a scare when she hurt her knee after just 7 minutes, but fortunately she was back on the pitch after brief treatment. There were limited opportunities to get shots on target in the opening 20 minutes, but then an indirect free kick in the 18-yard box was laid off by Tracy Orr for Tina Brush to force into the net for a 1-0 lead. Ten minutes later, Lurgan beat the offside trap but Tina’s shot was deflected wide for a corner. Ballynahinch immediately broke away, but the ball was fired over the bar thanks to pressure from Louise Kelly (or should I say O’Neill, as she’s recently returned from honeymoon!) Shortly afterwards, a free kick from Tracy went narrowly wide. But then 5 minutes before half-time, Kerry Taggart laid it off to Jess Whelan, whose shot took a slight deflection away from goal, but went in off the post for a 2-0 lead at half time.Ten minutes into the second half, Kerry was brought down in the box. and the resulting penalty was put away by Tracy for her fourth goal of the season. Shortly after Toni Smith came on for Sarah Taylor (who hurt her Achilles), she crossed a long ball in to Kerry who drove past the defence and slotted it past the keeper for 4-0.