Ladies 1sts v Pembroke 26/11/11
The Glens started this game in good spirits looking for 3 points to keep them safely in 7th place. This never looked in doubt in the first half after some super work from the forwards transpired in exposing the pembroke defence to send the feisty Paula Fitzpatrick in to collect a loose ball and finish with composure. A resounding strike that shook the Pembroke goals and lifted the glens goal scoring drought. The Glens continued to dominate the remainder of the first half with outstanding work upfront from Dearbhla Kieran and Lucy Small catching whatever fire Paula Fitzpatrick has brought back to the fray. The Glens short corner routine never quite doing the job in this game although earning more penalty corners than in recent ties. This is an area that will require some tweaking if the glens want to improve their goal difference in division 1. The scoreline remained 1-0 to the ladies in green going into the halftime break.
Pembroke came out fighting in the second half but were squandered in their attempts to equalise by some super cover tackling from Audrey McCormack and Aoife Dalton, who seems to be settling in to her new position in centre back with ease. This seemed to frustrate the pembroke side resulting in 2 yellow cards for various infringements and the count could well have been higher in this physical second half battle. Unfortunately against the run of play, Pembroke received a penalty corner towards the end of the game and with a super strike from top of the circle saw the ball skim over the logging Sue Byrne to neatly drop onto the backboard and equalise the game. Jennifer Rynne had some influence for Glenannes attack at this point with a wonderful overhead setting up a series of short corners for the Glens to finish on a high however it was not meant to be and the game remained on parity until the final whistle. The ladies in green will look forward to the second half of their season where they will face all the lower placed teams at home and for the first time since hitting division one have taken points from all such teams with their away fixtures. End score 1-1.
Man of the Match: Paula Fitzpatrick
