Congratulations to the U14A XI for winning the Junior Plate! On Friday they boarded the mini-bus and headed up the M2 to play Ballyclare High School in the final. This was now becoming a familiar journey to the girls, as they had already travelled up the motorway to play matches against Coleraine Grammar School and Foyle and Londonderry College. The final proved to be a much closer-fought affair than these earlier matches. The girls had played Ballyclare twice already this season, narrowly losing both games. This meant that they were probably slight underdogs going into the match.
Strathearn got off to a great start by forcing an error from the Ballyclare defence. Alex Fawcett was able to capitalise on this by beating the last defender, and scoring a fabulous goal from the top of the circle. Strathearn held the lead for the next ten minutes, but then Ballyclare scored to level the match as half-time approached. Whilst the second half had plenty of goal-scoring opportunities, neither team managed to get the ball over the line.
The full-time whistle went, taking the match into extra-time. The ‘silver goal’ rule was in place, which meant that if one team was ahead after the first five minutes, then the game was over. Both teams showed maturity beyond their years by dealing with the pressure of the big occasion. Strathearn began the first period strongly by winning a penalty corner in the early stages. Anna McKibben took the corner and the ball made its way to Erin Stewart, who scored an excellent goal. Strathearn were 2 -1 up with three minutes to go! All they needed to do was keep the ball away from the circle, but Ballyclare gave everything they had to get a goal back. Strathearn, however, stood firm and managed to get lots of players behind the ball, making it as difficult as possible for Ballyclare as the clock ticked on. Strathearn cleared the ball out of defence one final time as their supporters counted down the seconds. The umpire’s whistle finally sounded and the match was ours! The girls gave a fabulous display of skill and great teamwork. Well done for bringing home the Junior Plate!
