Ladies 1sts denied dramatic IHL comeback

Loreto Hockey Club 2 – Pegasus 3
07 November 2010 | Loreto High School | 3pm

Within the first minute of this up-tempo opening quarter both teams were threatening the opposing circles. Pressure was put on each defence but it was Pegasus’ Vanessa Surgeoner who fired the ball into the Loreto net in the 7th minute to make it 1-0. A PC for Loreto shortly followed but they failed to get the equaliser. Six minutes later a similar goal came to fruition when the skilful Suzanne Beaney made it 2-0 for the visitors. Despite a second PC for Loreto the scoreline remained the same as the hooter sounded for the break. The crowd entered the break talking about the two head injuries on the pitch. Both Nicci Daly and Nikki Keegan left the grounds for medical attention after two separate incidents.

Loreto were hit with two early head injuries to Nikki and Nicci

The start of the second quarter was dominated by end to end play. Excellent stick-work combined with sheer pace was evident from Pegaus’ Claire McMahon. Equally Loreto’s Niamh Small pressured the Pegasus defence but their goalie came out well to deal with her attack. Pegasus’ third goal from play came five minutes into the quarter. This well worked goal was again scored by Suzanne Beaney who hammered the ball into the bottom right corner. Loreto were keen to reduce the goal deficit before half-time. A super pass from Small allowed Cathy McKean to deflect the ball into the bottom right corner.

Just before the half-team hooter Loreto had to adapt to 10 players when Sarah O’Meara was sin-binned. It was 3-1 in Pegasus’ favour.

The second half saw McKean, Ali Meeke and Small entertaining the home crowd with quick, sharp
passes with Small narrowly going wide of the posts. The goalie for Pegasus made some excellent
saves, firstly dealing with a shot from O’Meara and secondly clearing the ball after another PC. The
final quarter was full of action and both teams created some lovely passages of play. However,
again Loreto were down to 10 players when McKean did not agree with the Umpire’s decision.
Similarly, Pegasus had to cope with the loss of McMahon who was also sin-binned on another
occasion. Beaney continued to threaten but Loreto defenders, particularly Rachel Keegan and
Aisling Campion coped with her attack. Pegasus’ perseverance resulted in a PC which progressed
to a penalty flick when Nikki Symmons stopped the ball on the line. Michelle Harvey stepped up to take it but put the ball wide of the post. A few minutes later, the action was at the opposite end of the pitch when Loreto scored their second goal. A brilliant pass by Symmons was deflected to McKean to Meeke who popped it in the net. Consistent attacks came from Loreto in the last moments of the game but great defence, especially from Pamela Glass, ensured the three points for Pegasus, winning 3-2.

Goals: Cathy McKean, Ali Meeke (Loreto);
Vanessa Surgeoner, Suzanne Beaney 2 (Pegasus)