Slattery hat-trick inspires Swallows
The veteran Swallows taught Swifts a lesson or two in scoring over the weekend as they thrashed the schoolgirls 6-1 in A Division play and beat them 3-0 in the B Division.
Swallows dominated the first half of the A match, putting Swifts under a lot of pressure but failing to find the back of the net in the first half.
Altering their line-up in the second half, however, Swallows began to find their range.
Yvonne Slattery opened the scoring and Swallows rapidly added to this lead with Jenny Moreton scoring twice to take it to 3-0.
Swifts fought back and were rewarded for their efforts with a penalty flick which they duly converted.
But, determined to come away with a win, Swallows quickly hit back with a goal from Sarah Fenwick and a further two from Slattery, who converted two short corners in the last five minutes of the game to complete her hat-trick.
The B match between the teams also saw Swallows lay immediate pressure on Swifts who had to work hard to keep them from goal.
Continual pressure in the midfield and some great passing to the forward line eventually put Swallows on the scoresheet with a goal from Morag McRoberts.
Soon after, a great pass from Karen Turner found Annaka Rubidge just in the right position to deflect the ball into the goal to take the score to 2-0 at the end of the first half.
Remaining in attacking mode, Swallows put the game away when McRoberts dribbled the ball into the D and directed the ball beautifully past the 'keeper's pads to take the final score to 3-0.
In other A play, Canaries continued their scoring rampage with a 4-0 win over Ravens.
Lisa DeSilva was once again the first on the scoreboard and Emma Simmons followed shortly thereafter.
Ravens' defence, led by sweeper Heather Trimingham, did a good job to keep the scoreline at 2-0 at the half. Both teams came out hard after the interval but it was DeSilva who gave Canaries another leg up after a superbly executed short corner routine.
Meanwhile, Bluebirds A dominated most of their match with Police Orioles ? relentlessly pounding the Orioles defenders with numerous shots on goal. Only some determined and skilful defending and a stellar effort from goalie Fiona Doe prevented a flood of goals.
Bluebirds played well as a team with great distribution in the midfield between Sarah Smith and Denise O'Donoghue.
Jo-Ann Wilson had plenty of opportunities to demonstrate her crafty stick work and managed to score a high goal during the first half which ended 1-0.
The second half got off to a quick start with Kaywell Outerbridge netting an excellent second goal for the Blues.
The final goal of the game came towards the end of the match when defender Lesley Blackburn tackled an Oriole in midfield and hit the ball into the D allowing Wilson to convert.
In B play both the Ravens and Canaries' match and Bluebirds and Orioles' games ended in scoreless draws.
In the Men's League, Rebels squeezed past Upstarts 4-3 while BCS Panthers notched a 1-0 victory over Chameleons.