With one game remaining, Rostrevor are looking for a big finish to their league campaign, despite not having achieved their main goal of gaining promotion.
Three defeats, including losses to Saval and Loughinisland, derailed Rostrevor’s hopes of earning promotion to Division One this season. They are currently in third place, behind the newly crowned champions Saval, who topped the league ahead of second-place Saul.
Manager Niall Rafferty summed up how the team were feeling: “We are disappointed about where we are sitting in terms of our league position. There were certain injuries and people being away that didn’t help us. We lost two games that we were aiming to win against Saval and Loughinisland. That knocks you back. We had a bad result against Saval, but we were severely depleted that night. It was a difficult game for the panel we had available to us that night.”
The way the league has panned out is frustrating for Rostrevor, who were eager to earn promotion to Division One this year. But now that promotion is out of reach, the Rostrevor ladies have had to refocus.
“The approach has changed,” Niall said a week ago, before last Thursday’s game against Saval. “Our goal is just to get a bit of form going into the championships. I think that is the best way to approach it (the remaining games).”
Rostrevor’s recent season form has helped them do just that. They drew with Ballymartin in mid-June and then recorded wins over Warrenpoint and Saval.
“We beat Warrenpoint (two weeks ago), although Warrenpoint were very stretched with numbers. It was a game we felt we should win with the numbers that we had. We felt that we needed to get the ball rolling again.”
In the full story Niall goes on to explain why the team are hoping for a strong finish.
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