McGIVERN WINNER MOVES CRUES THIRD
Crusaders Strikers moved into third spot in the Sports Direct Women's Premiership with a narrow defeat of Larne Women at Inver Park.
A slow start to the game saw few chances for either side. However, the visitors were denied an early penalty when Morganne Beggs went down in the box after a tackle from Rebekah Robinson after just eight minutes.
With Crusaders taking control in the game, their hosts continued to look threatening on the counter and almost had a clear-cut chance when Amanda Morton found Bernadette Ferreira in space, but the forward was offside.
The best chance of the half came when Northern Ireland legend Julie Nelson saw her free-kick saved by Kate Smith before a teammate put the rebound over the crossbar.
With the scores level at half time, Crusaders took the lead in the 55th minute when a brilliant ball over the top of the home defence found Amy McGivern in space. The unmarked player took a touch before brilliantly finding the net with a lobbed effort to make it 1-0. Despite the away lead, Larne continued to threaten on the counter, but couldn’t find their equalising goal.
With twelve minutes remaining, it was almost 2-0 as Leontia McVarnock was picked out at the back post only for her effort to force Smith into a last-gasp save from Smith in the Larne goal. Despite their best efforts, the hosts couldn’t find their equaliser as it finished 1-0
Larne Women: Smith, Nellins, Haveron, Hanna, Morton, Wilgaus, H. Robinson, Johnston, Rebekah Robinson, Montgomery, Ferreira subs Boyce, Moore, Morrison, McCourt, Rachel Robinson, Henderson, J. Robinson
Crusaders Strikers: Harvey-Clifford, Hamilton, McGivern, Nelson, McCann, Beggs, Armour, Chalmers, McNeill, McLaren, Rea subs Johnston, McVarnock, Caldwell, Mann, Rodgers
Substitution 
Substitution 
