CRUSADERS STRIKERS JUST KEEP ON WINNING     16.06.11

Crusaders Strikers kept up their winning streak last night at Seaview when they defeated Fermanagh Mallards 6-1. Helen McKenna claimed her second hat trick of the season and the ever impressive Natalie Boyd scored two with Lynsey Patterson netting the other.

The Strikers could have had a hatful more as they ran riot but a combination of poor finishing and good goalkeeping prevented this.The only downside to the game was Crusaders Strikers goalkeeper Angela Platt having to leave the field with an injured thigh.

CRUSADER STRIKERS VS LINFIELD LADIES 3.06.11

Strikers, boosted by the home support, started well but failed to strike a good rhythm in the first half, leaving themselves open to the counterattack by the Blues of Linfield. Amber Dempster and Kirsty McGuinness led the line well for them and they were rewarded for their efforts when Strikers failed towin a first-time ball in midfield. Ashleigh McKee’s flick on led to a ball over the top which deceived the central defenders, leaving Strikers goalkeeper Angela Platt with a difficult task to prevent Dempster frompoking the ball past her. This left the score at 1-0 to the visitors at half-time, the latter retiring to the dressingroom for their lengthy half-time review.
 
The second half was a case of Jekyll and Hyde, however, and the return of Strikers’ centre forward, Helen McKenna to top form, was the feature of the second half. With no more than two goalmouth chances createdby the Blues, and both in the last two minutes, Strikers dominated the second half. With more intensity, they won first time ball in midfield and gradually penned the Blues into their own half, leaving their back four to maintain pressure from the halfway line. Stephanie Dickson’s tight marking of Kirsty McGuinness meant that any threat was more than ably nullified so it fell to the midfield and front players of Strikers to persist until this overcame the Linfield resistance.

Natalie Boyd’s darting off the mark was enough to create the space needed to bring the sideslevel and, from then, it was a case of when and not if for Strikers. McKenna was put through by her teammates and two occasions and she made no mistake, cooly slotting past the Linfield keeper who had kept her team in the game with pointblank saves on three occasions. Central defender Fawn Mulholland hit the crossbar for Strikers while Nikki McWilliams’ fitness paid off with two goal chances on target late in the game when most players were flagging somewhat. Nicole Vance’s gradual reintegration into the Strikers midfield is undoubtedly upping the ante for her teammates and creating a headache for the management team while Lynsey Patterson continues to offer a threat, either side of midfield.