NIWFA Division One.
Gill Makes Small Work of Portaferry
Portaferry Ladies 1 v Larne Ladies 10
Following a draw with run away leaders Derry, Larne continued with their impressive form and kept the fight for second place in the balance with an emphatic win against Portaferry; star forward Gill Small managing to score five and midfield dynamo Trish Neill collecting four.
Larne started quickly out of the blocks and with only 3 mins on the watch Gill Small powered her way through to score her first before Portaferry had really come out of the changing rooms. Play was scrappy and not a game for the spectator when Trish Neill popped up in the 12 min to slot home her first of the evening.
Portaferry then managed what was to be one of very few opportunities and only for a mistake by the goalkeeper who missed the ball allowing young Amy McCarthy to force the ball over the line for Portaferry’s goal on 18 mins. For the next few minutes Portaferry and Larne started to play some nice football but it only lasted until 21 min when Laura Noble scored to put two between them again, after this it was one way traffic.
With Christine Waide and Trish Neill dominating the midfield and Gill Small and Laura Noble terrorising the Portaferry defence it wasn’t long before the goal tally started to mount with Gill Small grabbing her hat trick with goals in the 35 and 39 minutes and Trish Neill grabbing her brace with a minute of the half left.
With less than a minute of the second half gone Small grabbed her fourth, Portaferry came out fighting and with some hard hitting tackles the football appeared to get lost at times. Larne tried to control the ball and play but never really got into a flow through constant interruptions for silly free kicks, which were to cost Portaferry later in the game. In fact the biggest cheer of the night came when the referee slipped and fell much to the amusement of the watching crowd.
Ciara Sands, Marion Toner and Amy McCarthy tried hard for Portaferry but with 15 mins to go Gill Small grabbed her fifth with her final contribution to the game before being replaced. With Christine Waide now appearing to have the freedom of the park and putting in some great runs and passes it was all hands on deck for Portaferry at the back and everytime the ball came out it went straight back in again with no respite for their defence.
Larne’s backline had time and opportunity on the ball and with Jacqueline Spence, Cathy Dunn, Lana Robinson and Lynsey (Precious) Noble having little to do all evening but doing it well. But it was to be Trish Neill in the dying minutes to collect her hat trick from a 25 yard free kick on the 41 min and followed this up with a repeat from further out on 44 min to finish the scoring.
With such a gulf between the two teams I think the biggest loser on the night was football and with only 3 games to go for Portaferry to salvage some respect and not collect the wooden spoon it’s not looking good for them, whilst at the top of the table and with some of the top four still having to play each other it is going to be a tight finish.
Report – A Freethinker
