Garvey cause Cup upset to snatch Plate victory

Dungannon were strong favourites as they had just won promotion to Senior One, a full four leagues above Garvey’s second-string.

Dungannon started well with their forwards putting the Garvey defence under pressure but the Garvey back four, well marshalled by Captain Sara Hanna, comfortably dealt with any attacks.

Garvey slowly started to get on top with their own sharp, clinical passing which caused Dungannon problems for the rest of the first-half.

Early in the second-half, good passing between the Garvey forwards Steff McCullough and Laura Wilson left Jenna Flynn free at the left hand side of the circle. She calmly shot across the keeper and into the far corner to give Garvey a stunning 1-0 advantage.

Garvey lost their grip on the game for about 10 minutes and allowed Dungannon to equalise from a penalty corner which the defence failed to clear.

Normal time finished 1-1 with a nervy five minutes each-way extra time to follow.

Four minutes into the first half, Garvey got that all-important goal.

Tamilla Matchett won a free and hit it hard into the Dungannon circle where Jenna Flynn instinctively deflected the ball high into the Dungannon goal to give Garvey a 2-1 lead. Garvey nearly had a third right at the end when Jasmine Kirkwood outpaced the defence but her effort was well saved by the keeper.

The final finished a good two weeks for Lisnagarvey as the Ladies Firsts won their play-off with Cookstown to remain in the Premier league. This will be the first time in the Ladies history that they have played consecutive seasons in Premier Hockey.