It was an early start on Saturday morning as as I caught up with the Schoolgirls Senior Cup hockey match between Victoria College and Rainey Endowed School at Newforge.

As I arrived the coaching teams were still thawing out the bottom right corner but with the temperature rising to a balmy 60 C the game was able to proceed at 9:40 am without issue.

Rainey got off to a strong start keeping Victoria pinned in their own area for the first five minutes. However, Victoria were first to score after a driving run down the left by Eva Kelly was taken inside the D for captain Mariella Mackey to find the net to give the home team a 1 – 0 lead.