PORTADOWN got the Legacy Wealth Management Ulster hockey weekend underway in style with a 6-1 away win over Mossley to go top of the table on goal difference from midweek leaders Queen’s.
Mossley fought to make a match of it but had no answer to the Portadown firepower.
Portadown got off the mark when Rebekah Lennon’s drive from a penalty corner was neatly diverted into the goal by Lara Wilson. And soon after when it seemed that neither team could get hold of the ball at the edge of the circle, the league’s top scorer Evie Girvan took control and lashed a ball to the keeper’s right to double the lead.
A penalty corner in the second quarter resulted in another goal, courtesy of a driven shot from Rebekah Lennon despite the best efforts of the Mossley defenders. Portadown were irresistible at this point and Alyssa Somerville, who was unfortunate not to get on the scoresheet, found Emily Adamson who worked the ball onto her reverse and fired a powerful reverse to make it four.
Tara Malcolmson pulled one back for Mossley in the third quarter from a penalty corner but the Ports stepped it up after this and Serena Campuzano picked up a ball in the circle to get a goal which her performance deserved.
Young goalkeeper Makyla Stevenson made her Ports Premier league debut in quarter four and while the Portadown goal was rarely threatened, the standard of the Ports’ play understandably dipped a little as the players tired.
But they were still dangerous and Bethany Harper added a sixth at the finish.
Belfast Harlequins thrashed Lisnagarvey 5-0 on Saturday to continue their fine season in the Legacy Wealth Management Premier League
The win makes it three games without defeat for the side as they now move to within touching distance of the EYHL2 places.
By the end of quarter one the visitors were already two goals ahead as Katie Larmour opened the scoring with a drag flick from a penalty corner before Jenny McAuley doubled their advantage from open play.
Claire Whiteside scored her fourth goal of the season to make it 3-0 from close range whilst Megan Getty added a Quins fourth before too long.
The scoring was finally rounded off as McAuley got her second and her sides fifth goal of the afternoon.
Having broken down the wing, Larmour delivered a good ball into the circle where she found the sliding McAuley who netted with a deflected effort to wrap up the 5-0 victory.
Following the win, Harlequins are now just one point outside the EYHL2 places whereas Lisnagarvey remain fifth in the table, now four points behind Saturday’s opponents.
In a massive game at the bottom of the division, Ballymoney ran out 2-1 winners against bottom of the division Banbridge.
Having given her side the lead in the 14th minute, Katherine Boyd scored the winning goal of the game for the hosts with just two minutes remaining on the clock.
The forward has now scored five goals this season with her goals on Saturday afternoon helping end her sides run of four games without a win.
The win sees the Ballymoney move seven points clear of Banbridge who stay bottom of the division having lost all ten of their games so far this season.
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