 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
|
 |
  |
  |
 |
 |
 |
As the business end of the season approaches, www.greenislandladies.co.uk caught up with 1st XI forward Dawn Montgomery, 26, to gain an insight into her Greenisland experience to date.
The first taste of hockey for a young Dawn was Primary 6 in Glengormley Primary School. "I started by slotting in at left back with Ruth Hewitt (then Smedley) in goals. From here I got the hockey bug!" Despite now playing on the forward line, Dawn played left back throughout all her time at Belfast High School as well. Here she joined a lot of current Greenisland players including Ruth Hewitt, Jenny Mayne, Judith Sweeney, Joanne Thompson and Erica McMullan in THE team that made it to the semi finals of the School's Cup! Dawn is pictured in the back row, 4th from the left. How many more can you recognise?!
"The cup run was definitely the highlight of my school hockey days" she recalls. After drawing with Friends in the first semi final the sides were forced to replay and after leading 1-0 for most of the second match, Belfast High were seconds away from victory when Friends were awarded a penalty corner just as the final whistle sounded. With 10 players surrounding the circle, Friends grabbed an equaliser and the replay was forced into extra time. Neither side was able to come up with a winner and so the dreaded penalty flicks followed. With Friends converting more than Belfast High the cup dream ended cruelly and has haunted most of the side ever since!
Dawn joined Greenisland Ladies in 2000 when she found herself missing the game and with a little coercing from Erica McMullan! As there were a lot of familiar faces from school, fitting in was easy and Dawn slotted straight into the 2nd XI alongside the likes of Judith MaCartney and Judith Sweeney. Again she here played left back and must have been doing something right, winning both Best Newcomer and 2nd XI Player of the Year in her first season.
Toward the end of her first season at Greenisland, Dawn began subbing for the 1st XI. She remembers the first time vividly as she was subbing at a home match at Belfast High School and had to go on at right wing! In her own words she "struggled through and actually really enjoyed it!" despite being a defender throughout her entire time playing hockey to date. From here on she subbed for the 1sts a few more times that season and was then a regular member of the team the following year.
"Winning promotion to Senior League was excellent" recalls Dawn who thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing against a higher level of opponent each week. Despite it being a tough year which saw the team return to Qualifying One again the next season, Dawn who captained the 1st XI that season, desperately wants the current 1st XI to repeat that promotion success and become a solid Senior Two team. It was during this season in Senior League that Dawn made the permanent transition from defender to attacker, regularly playing down the left wing.
Dawn is renowned of late for stealing other people's goals, with a great skill of being at the back post at just the right time for a tap in and this is usually the basis of post match discussion with Jenny Mayne and Norma Montgomery who feel 'robbed'! However as long as the team is winning it is never an issue... until the top goal scorer award is handed out at the end of the season!
Such is life at Greenisland, players don't just enjoy it for the hockey side, but for the social elements too and Dawn is no different having made lots of friends during her seven years at the club. Highlights include the hockey tours and sharing a room with THE Jackie Nelson!
Another particularly memorable day was the away Irish Cup trip to face Three Rock Rovers in Dublin and the infamous 'escalator moment' with Norma! However Dawn says that day also sticks in the mind for it's hockey as "we played out of our skins to get narrowly beaten 1-0 in a game everyone expected us to lose heavily".
Another memory that stands out was during Dawn's first season at the club, playing for the 2nd XI. As the half time whistle blew Judith MaCartney moved quicker than she had done the whole game over to the dug out to bring out the hot mulled wine and oranges!
In the 2003/04 season, winning the Qualifying Plate by beating Randalstown in the final at Queens House of Sport was a highlight, as was the celebrations later on that night!
UP CLOSE WITH... ALYSON DOUGLAS
UP CLOSE WITH... NORMA MONTGOMERY
| Last Updated: |
|
||||||||||||
| 17-Oct-2008 9:20 | |||||||||||||