BOTH Troon Ladies teams travelled away on Saturday to play Milne Craig Clydesdale Western. Troon Ladies 1s clashed in a high intensity game with their Ladies 4s, coming away with a powerful 3-1 win.

Meanwhile Ladies 2s played a more balanced match against their Ladies 6s keeping control to secure a 2-1 win.

The clash between Ladies 1s and Clydesdale Western Ladies 4s was fast and furious from passback but to the credit of both teams, play remained firmly focused on delivering quality hockey.

Under floodlights with intermittent cold showers the play raced in turns towards each end with both keepers bossing their respective D, denying their opposition the chance to draw ahead. The stalemate was finally broken when a multiplayer break by Troon allowed the ball to be worked around the keeper with Erin Bell finally finding the back of the net, giving Ladies 1s a 1-0 lead that they retained going into the half-time break.

Clydesdale Western came out at speed on the restart, almost seeming to catch Troon unawares, levelling the score with a strong strike within Troon’s D. As the match raced on, it become clear that Troon was gaining an edge – Clydesdale Western would build a full press, find it deadened by the strength of the Ladies 1s defence only for Troon to intercept the ball and briskly break back up the pitch.

A series of successful keeper-led defences of the Clydesdale Western goal could not be sustained as first Rosie Tudor and then Erin Bell were supported by their teammates to play around the keeper and score. Clydesdale Western fought to come back into the game to the end, but just couldn’t sustain the pace set by Troon who consistently worked back to deaden any of their breaks. Ladies 1s came away with a well-deserved 3-1 win from an excellent and exciting game.

Clydesdale Western Ladies 6s faced the Ladies 2s, both started with enthusiasm but neither team could take control of the game. Almost on halftime Troon finally pulled ahead, with Leigh Timothy chipping in a shot across goal to put them 1-0 ahead going into the break. With the restart the Ladies 2 pushed to lengthen their lead, though the lack of consistency in passing helped Clydesdale Western to prevent them securing further advantage.

As the final quarter came, Troon secured a short corner and, on their second try, Sophie Russel score. The lead short lived as Clydesdale Western pushed back and, delivered a strong shot through a melee in Troon’s D that the keeper was unable to reach. The final ten minutes saw Clydesdale Western pushing hard secure another goal to draw level, but Troon held on to their lead and secured a strong 2-1 win.

Both Troon Ladies teams return to action on Saturday 1st December when Ladies 1s welcome Dumfries Ladies 1s to Troon, passback 1:45pm, and Ladies 2s travel away to Stewarton to play East Kilbride 2s, passback 2:45pm.