By Jonathan Brown
It’s been a tough few years for the Dromara Village Ladies, after losing key players and suffering relegation to NIWFA Division Four last season, but with a fledgling girls’ section on the rise, there are hopes for a bright future.
In their opening games of the 2025 campaign, Dromara have lost to Valley Rangers Ladies and Ards Rangers Ladies, won 1-0 away to Rathfriland Ladies, before suffering defeat at home against Oxford Sunnyside Ladies on Friday night.
The team is managed by Banbridge native Craig Anderson, alongside his dad, Stephen. Anderson has been working with the ladies’ team at Bellsbridge for the past five years in various roles but made the step up to the managerial hot seat before the start of the new campaign.
“The past couple of years, it’s been up and down. It’s a small catchment area, so it’s hard to get players in. It’s hard, especially with some of the teams about now – some of them are ridiculously good,” Anderson explained.
The former Banbridge Rangers and Downshire player gave his assessment of the season so far. “I think they’ve (the players) been doing well. The first game against Valley Rangers wasn’t easy. Then we had Ards, not easy again, then Rathfriland, who are around the same level as us, and that was an absolutely brilliant game of football to watch for both sides – a draw would have probably been a fair result, but I’ll take the win. But so far, it’s been good – all the ladies are stepping up in training and really digging in.”
In the full story the manager talks about how some of the younger players have impacted the team.
