Raphoe maintained their unbeaten start with a 6-0 victory over Weston Ladies in the Irish Hockey Cup on Saturday afternoon.
Raphoe Ladies 6 Weston Ladies 0
Report by Charlie Collins at the Royal and Prior School Grounds, Raphoe.
Goals from Wendy Patterson, Victoria Wray, Lisa Smyth and Sarah McElrean in the opening half was followed by a further two goals from Sabrina Barnett and Zara Tinney in the second-half.
Raphoe put on an entertaining display before the interval as they dominated the first half against Weston Ladies.
It took Raphoe only three minutes to get on the scoreboard – Wendy Patterson with a sublime finished following some brilliant integrate play Arylene Kilpatrick.
Weston battled hard but they were no match for Raphoe in hindsight, who grabbed their second and third before 11 minutes – a stunning showing by the East Donegal side.
After nine minutes, Victoria Wray provided a slick manoeuvre inside the area before sending the ball crashing past Catherine Quirke to make it 2-0.
Two minutes later and the game was all but finished. Lisa Smyth providing the third, reaping the benefits Sabrina Barnett’s hard work.
Fixing their shape, Weston tried to stop the heavy onslaught, and for a period they got themselves back into the tie.
Managing to create chances of their own, Weston appeared to have recovered, but after 33 minutes Raphoe dealt another heavy blow on Dublin side.
This time Sarah McElrean scored from a well-worked corner, which was played short into the Raphoe players path.
The second period brought more of the same as Richard Tinney’s outfit earned themselves another two goals without reply to finish the game in style.
Patterson added an assist to her impressive tally for the season just before the 50-minute mark.
She sent a superb pass into the path of Sabrina Barnett, who calmly finished in front of goal.
Raphoe, like several times already this campaign, were playing quite unbelievable hockey at an electrifying pace.
After 51 minutes, just following their fifth score, the sixth goal of the game was added to the scoreboard.
Zara Tinny the beneficiary of excellent play again – exhibition stuff at times by Raphoe.
Just before the end, Barnett was denied her second of the game from a penalty, which Quirke managed to save – highlighting the only real positive for Weston Ladies on the day.
The victory keeps the momentum firmly in Raphoe’s corner, who sit joint top of the league with games in hand.
Raphoe Ladies Squad: Heather Humphrey, Arylene Kilpatrick, Victoria Wray, Sabrina Barnett, Janice Nelson, Zara Tinney, Wendy Patterson, Lyndsey Tinney, Lisa Patterson, Lisa Smyth, Katy Love, Jasmine Tinney, Sarah Elrean, Amy Wauchope, Rebecca Wauchope.
Weston Ladies Squad: Catherine Quirke, Mairead Darcy, Rebecca Doyle, Ruth Watson, Ariane Hannon, Susan Kavanagh, Lucy McIntyre, Clodagh O’Toole, Jayne Staunton, Alanna Dunne, Katrina Bray.
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