Ladies are knocked out of the McConnell Shield

Bann Ladies 1

BANN Ladies Firsts played PSNI in the second round of the McConnell Shield on Saturday.

This was the girls first game since December 14 against a team currently at the top of their league.

Bann started strongly and for the first 20 minutes of the match held their own. Strong play from Amy Atkinson, Naomi Robb, Sara McCracken and Heather Marriot in midfield ensured that the PSNI forward play was broken down at each opportunity.

PSNI took the lead from a short corner conversion much against the run of play. Their opening goal was followed by a second on the stroke of half-time from great open play move by one of the PSNI forwards that caught the Bann defence unawares.

Bann opened the second half with a superb reverse strike goal from Naomi Robb from one of the very few goal scoring opportunities that Bann had in spite of all their possession.

Jane Cousins and Rachel Cairns, making her debut for the Firsts, worked tirelessly up front while Michelle Hillen, Claire Ussher, Debbie Whitten, Jill Mehaffey and especially Ashlea Bell had a strong game in defence.

The second half settled into a similar pattern to that of the first half until the 25th minute of the half when PSNI were awarded a controversial goal, slotting the ball into the net off the body of a PSNI forward who had gone down in the Bann circle. This was a cruel blow to the girls in what had been a highly competitive game.

PSNI scored their fourth with five minutes to go to the final whistle and saw them progressing to the third round.

Lack of match play and injury all played a factor in why the score line did not reflect the performance from the team who now turn to their league position and a home game against Portadown on Saturday.

Player of The Match: Ashlea Bell