Larne 2015 v Ballyclare
Another competitive game against Ballyclare, with the Larne girls starting the strongest on a cold morning. The girl’s dominance resulted in a number of well worked team and individual goals.
Ballyclare came more into the game making the Larne girls work hard for the remainder of the game. The match then finished with a great solo goal from Sophia who dribbled past three Ballyclare players and finished with her weak foot.
Larne 2014 v St Matthews
A tough morning for the Larne girls against St Matthews at the Valley. Larne started well but the opposition midfield soon took control of the game. The strong defensive line of Adrianne and Megan kept the score down.
A few good runs from Faye and Poppy St. got Larne out but they could not finish any of our chances. Poppy Sh. forced a good save from their goalkeeper but mainly it was a well fought defensive effort from the Larne girls.
Larne 2012 v Rosario
A performance and a result to keep the 2012 girls grounded this weekend.
The Larne girls started strong in the first 2 minutes through an own goal and battled their way through the first 15 minutes.
The girls created a few chances through Avanah, Sophia and Gracie. Rosario found their way back into the game through two quick goals, which arose through the lack of ball pressure, unlike Larne earlier in the season.
Rosario then scored a similar third goal before 10 minutes of hard fought football which saw Larne score a goal through Sofia. Rosario scored another goal before Amber and Sophia got a quick double to level the game.
However the intensity was short bursts and the Larne girls conceded another goal late as the Rosario player skipped through a number of Larne players.
Larne 2011 SBYL v Belfast Swifts postponed
When Larne arrived at the Brook Activity Centre, the team were told the match was off. It looked like girls were on their way home until they walked past Magherafelt Sky Blues 2011 boys team, who had travelled down to find themselves in the same situation. So, the 2 teams played a friendly.
The boys were a super team with great sportsmanship. The Larne girls battled through the cold fog and strung some brilliant passes together from Macy through Roo, Ellie and Luci linking the defence and midfield. The Larne girls were unlucky not to score with a few good shots from Ellie, Holly and Abbie. Macy was kept busy at the other end and pulled off some super saves and with some super defending between Roo and Jayla, the tackles were flying in.
The game was hard fought by Larne but Magherafelt were a bit sharper on the day coming out as the winners.
Larne U14 0 – 1 Cliftonville
A good positive team talk from Larne before today’s match and the girls were up for the occasion against a strong Cliftonville team.
Unfortunately, 3 minutes into the match Larne conceded from a spectacular shot from 20 yards with the ball going in the top corner and not much the Larne goalkeeper could do. For the remainder of the first half it was hard fought between both teams with fantastic work rate from the Larne midfield between Erica and Lisa, playing some fantastic through balls but unfortunately Larnes’s forward line either misread or lacked the pace against a strong opposition defence.
At half-time Larne switched up their formation and gambled with a more direct formation and overloaded the midfield and forward lines with the Larne girls instantly having much more possession and creativity in the final third. Numerous chances arose but from some fantastic goalkeeping from Cliftonville denying Larne an opening. In the last minutes of the match Larne had 4 corners with 2 shots cleared of the line and another hitting the post.
The Larne girls were unfortunate not to get anything from the hard fought game. Although the result didn’t end the way that was desired, Larne’s coach was delighted with the girls’ work rate and attitude in the 2nd half.
Larne U16/17 6 – 6 Cliftonville
On a cold morning in Mallusk the Larne girls were involved in a battle with Cliftonville.
The game went end to end, finishing 6-6. Larne looked assured in the midfield with Anna, Eimear and Alex controlling the tempo of the game and playing some great through balls to Sophie and Zara on each wing. Zara did well to convert one of the through balls, bagging her first goal of the day. Dee was a goal scoring machine, finishing four of her chances with several 1 on 1s with the keeper.
Defensively the girls shape was good but a very unlucky penalty opened up Cliftonville’s scoring and from there Larne seemed hesitant to clear the ball inside their own box.
For the majority of the second half Larne battled with only 10 players after Alix was given a red card after 40 minutes. The fight from the Larne players to keep pushing forward and battling in defence was commendable, showing the grit that we expect from our players.
Players of the game could have gone to all 11 of the girls, each of them playing a great game. However, two stood out – Anna for constant tracking back in the midfield and composure on the ball to keep us moving forward and Rachel for dominating the left side of the pitch defensively.
