Mid Ulster v Cliftonville
Thanks to a scintillating first-leg play-off performance, Mid Ulster retained Premiership status, shredding the ambitions of the Championship’s Cliftonville who, following relegation last summer, had hoped for a quick return to the top deck of the Davison’s Frudles NIWFA League.
In Barcelona-type fashion the Co. Tyrone ladies collected nine goals in an almost unbelievable 9-2 victory, and with every goal scored Mid Ulster were accelerating towards the chequered flag, rendering the return leg a meaningless bout, the margin of Cliftonville’s demise as startling as it was emphatic. With the score at 2-2 twenty minutes into play no-one could have imagined what was about to follow as the Wolves-styled Orange and Blacks raised the decibels around the Cookstown arena with every inventive, attacking move they made to leave Cliftonville floundering in a sea of goals, agony etched on each face as their world crumbled around them.
It was an evening when Mid Ulster’s talismanic winger Simone Magill played with the skill and flair that saw her net four goals, the Cliftonville defence unable to suppress the wizardry of a blossoming star who is already working her way through Northern Ireland ranks. She was brilliantly assisted by the wonderful Stacey Lee whose early quick-fire goal was the first of a marvellous hat-trick.
The inspirational Claire Brown deservedly stamped her name on the scoresheet in the midst of Cliftonville’s torment as did the lively Lisa Richardson. To compound Cliftonville’s misery a nasty tackle on Adele Gillespie led to them finishing the game with ten players. Their only moments of comfort came when the irrepressible Marissa Callaghan and Martine Power levelled the score away back in the early skirmishes of the first half. As they trudged off the field in the fading light, Mid Ulster cheers banging in their ears the disillusioned Reds knew that promotion would have to wait another year.
What brought about Cliftonville’s horrible decline? How did they come to suffer the same pain they usually inflict on others? When you examine the facts from their season’s endeavours, their collapse is even more puzzling. They scorched through the Championship, finishing as the only unbeaten team. For a time they headed the table. They scored 74 goals, more than anyone else in the division and leaked 24 goals, only five more than winners YMCA. They drew four times, two of which came in their final five games, no big deal, still impressive stuff. It was these draws that proved to be fatal flaws, depriving them of the title, eventually leading to the ill-fated first-leg play-off in which they capitulated.
They fared better in the second leg, restoring some semblance of pride with a spirited 1-1 draw, but this was just the sad formality of a contest that passed them by three evenings earlier. They finally lost 10-3 on aggregate. Marissa Callaghan again found the net as did Adele Gillespie for a Mid Ulster side that discovered resilience, will-to-win and how to deliver the knock-out punch when the chance arrived.
Downpatrick v Armagh
Armagh will follow Derry City into the Championship to replace Downpatrick following their play-off success over the Co. Down town team. It wasn’t until their tenth match that Armagh broke through to a possible promotion place. Then, they exchanged places with Larne. They turned in a tremendous performance at the Brandywell to beat champions Derry City 2-1 and have played with endurance and passion since to consolidate their position and earn their new-found status.
In the knock-out cut and thrust showdown a 4-1 away win at Dunleath Park blazed Armagh’s promotion trail. They consolidated with a 2-0 success at Holm Park, a 6-1 overall triumph validating their claim for residency in the Championship. Unlike their promotion colleagues Limavady, Downpatrick’s inaugural attempt to remain an authentic competitor in higher grade football failed, their summer being a difficult assignment that finally proved beyond them. Even an early lead in the first leg was an illusionary vision as the final reality of relegation bit in.
Two smash and-grab raids by Armagh in the dying moments of the opening half of the first play-off leg reversed fortunes. Firstly Katie Boylan nicked possession to set up Charlene Troughton to level the score. Within moments it was 2-1 when opportunist Megan Cinnamond reacted quickest to poach a second goal. Midway through the second half Armagh took a colossal stride towards promotion, the inrushing Caroline O’Hare stretching their lead to 3-1. Before the final whistle it was 4-1, Megan Bothwell’s perfectly judged lob dropping into the Downpatrick net.
Downpatrick’s journey to Holm Park for the return leg was always going to be a mixture of hope, trepidation and unease. The chasm between the sides following the first leg was one that they were never going to bridge though, instead having to settle for a defiant departure as jubilant Armagh, with goals from Claire Taylor and Charlene Troughton, deservedly celebrated promotion.
Tollymore v 1st Bangor
AFTER six games 1st Bangor tailed Valley Rangers, Portadown Integrated, Bangor Ladies and Ballymoney in Division Two, six points adrift of second placed Ports. But, thanks to a flurry of enduring performances they overhauled all promotion-seeking candidates to seize the runners-up spot, a superb achievement in itself. Their play-off success over now-relegated Tollymore Athletic was just reward for an outstanding accomplishment.
To their credit the Seasiders bowed out of Division One in plucky fashion, defiantly snatching a 3-2 win at Drome Park, but not enough to turn the tables on a 3-1 defeat on their own patch in the first leg. Although flirting with relegation over most of the season, there was a belief they might avoid the drop but a disastrous loss to fellow strugglers Knockbreda in their final game led to this survival duel with 1st Bangor where, despite their spirited resistance the axe fell. Hannah Sheffield, Emma Pyper and Claire Withers clinched 1st Bangor’s eventual triumph with their goals.
Tollymore’s bold bid to remain a Division 1 side was highlighted by a scorching first half in the return leg at Ards where they silenced home supporters when they leapt stunningly ahead 3-0, for a time defying the odds to take an aggregate lead of 4-3. But as one door opened another closed. Their joy wasn’t to last. Home coach Joe Houston gambled with a few changes, which were to reap dividends in a compelling second half, two massive strikes from Sarah Gamble and Jane Patton clinching an aggregate 5-4 victory to break Tollymore hearts.
You have to applaud everyone at 1st Bangor, an Ards-based club, for the way they have progressed since entering the League. It’s hard to believe that the Pink and Black stripes have been in existence for just three years, already securing two consecutive promotions. They were the Division 3 Cup winners in 2009, finishing runners-up to Bangor Ladies in the League. Last year they lost out to Derry City in both Cup and League, but are back in this season’s Division 2 Cup final where they will face much fancied Valley Rangers.
Moyola Park v Lisburn
LISBURN fired in six goals in their opening leg against Moyola Park and Hey! Presto they were in Division 2! An inexperienced Derry team couldn’t cope with the sharper, more direct visitors who, after having to play second fiddle to Sion Swifts all season, join their Tyrone counterparts in the higher level. Enough was enough for the Castledawson-based Moyola side who decided there was no way back and conceded the second leg to tumble into Division 3.
It’s a great fillip for the Lagan Blues. Hayden Davis’s refreshing team couldn’t quite come to grips with the division’s runaway ladies, the exciting Sion Swifts over the summer, but they did make the runners-up spot their own from as far back as the third week of the League, emphasising the fact that they are worthy of place in the higher division. Two goals from Jenny Brady and one apiece from Nadene Stewart, Stacey Murdough, Hanna Majury and Fiona Carlisle had them celebrating
By Sammy Martin
