Springfield Ramblers 0 Douglas Hall 4

DOUGLAS HALL'S impressive run continued with a comfortable win over a spirited Springfield Ramblers side in the GE Healthcare CWSSL Senior Women’s Premier League at the Stephen Ireland Astro, making it six wins from six.

For long periods of the game, Springfield held their more illustrious opponents, keeping them at bay and denying them any foray into their own penalty area apart from a couple of corners which were dealt with by the solid Springfield defence.

Chances were few and far between in the first half as the league leaders were finding it difficult to break down Springfield who were holding firm.

Early chances fell to Douglas Hall’s Kara Lacey and Springfield’s Amy Kennedy which were both well covered by the keepers, while Douglas Hall’s Lacey attempted to break through the Springfield defence only to be well tackled in the area by Ursula Lynch as both teams cancelled each other out in the first half hour.

However, that all changed when Douglas Hall opened the scoring with an Aoibhe Noonan’s 25-yard free which went over Jemma Savage and into the back of the net. Within two minutes had doubled their score when Stacey Paul O’Regan’s snapshot from almost the same position gave Savage no chance as the visitors were now well in control.

Douglas were now more confident in coming forward, and almost added a third minutes later when Maggie Duncliffe’s cross from the far side was deflected onto the post by a defender only for Savage to recover and had another chance only for the Springfield keeper to cover Alison O’Connell’s effort right on the goal line.

Springfield attempted to get back into the game and forced a couple of corners towards the end of the first half which were cleared by the Douglas Hall defence as they were preventing any kind of shot on goal as the first half came to a close.

The second half was only two minutes old when Douglas Hall added a third goal when Amy McCarthy’s 30-yard effort bounced in front of Savage and through her legs and into the back of the net effectively sealing Springfield's fate.

In the 54th minute keeper, Savage did well to hold onto Paul O’Regan’s powerful shot from outside the area and also produced a diving save from Noonan effort as the visitors were pressing forward.

Springfield attempted to break down the Douglas Hall defence, Melanie Fortier’s shot on goal well covered by the Douglas Hall keeper but the home side were dealt a further blow in the 84th minute when Noonan’s 25-yard effort sailed over the keeper and into the top corner as the points were well and truly on their way to Douglas Hall who appear to be the team to beat this season.

SPRINGFIELD: Jemma Savage, Robyn O’Sullivan, Caitlin Mulcahy, Melanie Fortier, Ursula Lynch, Ava Field, Amy Kennedy, Kerri Hancock, Maggie Sillett, Jess Geasley, Tiff Taylor, Lauren Breen, Leah O’Mahony 

DOUGLAS HALL: Tracey Kiely, Ciara Desmond, Claire Cooney, Emma McCarthy, Carissa Murphy, Stacey Paul O’Regan, Amy McCarthy, Maggie Duncliffe, Aoibhe Noonan, Alison O’Connell, Kara Lacey, Sharon Ring, Laura Cooney, Megan Dennehy, Kadie Lambe, Niamh Ryan 

Referee: J Desmond.