Ladies

Nicholl seeks improvements

COLERAINE Ladies manager Alison Nicholl believes the inexperience of her side was the catalyst in a defeat to Ballymacash…

The Bannsiders were beaten 6-0 by the Lisburn side with Nicholl missing several key players for the contest.

However, speaking to colerainefc.com, Nicholl was full of praise for ‘keeper Cerys Sharkey who put in an inspired performance despite the scoreline.

“We had three key players unavailable and then another one let me down on Friday morning which was disappointing,” she said.

“It had a big impact on the team as we have a young squad and it was experienced players who were missing.

“We started fairly well, the first 15 minutes was close and end-to-end stuff, but very soon the experience of the Ballymacash squad who are older and much more physical started to show.

“They broke through and scored after 20 minutes and a second quickly followed but to be fair they started to dominate the play.

“It was 3-0 at half-time and we had ‘keeper Cerys Sharkey to thank as she made a terrific save and picked up a knock but done extremely well and saved a penalty.”

Nicholl admits she is looking to add to her ranks and knows that she requires a full panel of players to pick up results.

“The final scoreline was 6-0 and we had a few opportunities in the second-half but we weren’t ruthless in front of goal,” she continued.

“We paid for that but they were stronger and fitter than us, so we know in that division we have to work on fitness and sharpness and be first to the ball.

“We learned a lot from the game but I need my key players to commit and back in every week.

“We are actively looking a few more players so if you are interested please get in touch and they will be made very welcome at Coleraine.

“We play Armagh next week in Antrim with our away game against them also being played there, so our full focus is getting back to winning ways.”