YMCA Ladies produced their best display of the season last Wednesday night when they played second placed Larne Ladies at Inver Park.
YM were dealt a potentially crucial blow prior to the game when they lost the services of four first team regular
s through injury and illness when Ciara O'Kane, Swiss international Ursina Carpeder and their deadly Northern Ireland International twin strike force of Avila Bergin and Kendra McMullan were deemed unfit to play, but YM brought in Sara Bergin, Laura Nicholas and Aiveen Laverty from the under 16 side and each one played important roles in the events of the night.
YM started brightly and in the first ten minutes both Mairead McCann and Laura Nicholas brought saves out of the Larne keeper. However Larne also looked dangerous from set-plays but they found YM keeper Alice Harkness in commanding form.
Gradually the YM mid field of Aine McKeever, Coral Lapsley and Sarah Bergin took control and began to dominate and on the half hour mark Lapsley and Nicholas combined to put Nicholas through on goal but the Larne keeper smothered her shot.
Just before the break, McKeever put McCann through on the keeper but again the keeper made the stop to keep the game scoreless at the break.
YM started the second half as they ended the first and continued to dominate playing some excellent football and on hour mark finally got the lead goal their play deserved when McKeever put Aiveen Laverty through on goal with an exquisite pass and Laverty coolly slotted the ball home past the advancing keeper.
Larne fought back after the goal and put the YM defence under severe pressure when they forced five corners in a ten minute spell but the YM defence of Corey, McSheffrey, Archibald and McCarter stood firm.
Then Nicholas crashed a shot off the post until finally in the 80th minute Laverty scored her and YM's second goal by lashing a wonderful strike from the edge of the box past the helpless keeper into the roof of the net.
Minutes later YM added a third when McCarter blasted a shot from the edge of the box and Nicholas completed the rout in the final minutes.
Larne got the consolation goal their performance deserved in the final minute but YM came away with the spoils and now lead the Championship by a whopping seven points at the half-way stage of the season.
This was a wonderful performance by every YM player but for the record the MOM award (selected by the referee) was YM midfielder Aine McKeever.
The Drumahoe girls now turn their attention to cup action for the next two weeks when they travel to Donegal Celtic tonight (Wednesday) in the Divisional Cup quarter-final and then on Monday, June 29, they travel to Premier side Loughgall Lakers in the last 16 of the IFA Coca Cola Cup.
