Men 1st xi Defeated by Mossley

North Down Lose to Mossley

North Down travelled to Mossley to fulfil a Premier League game on Saturday.In freezing cold conditions the home side ran out winners by 3-1.

North Down were without the influential McGimpsey,injured Speers and unavailable Dalzell but their replacements all made a contribution ensuring that Mosssley had to fight all the way to secure victory

North Down were first to settle and caused the Mossley defence some anxious moments.They gained two corners both of which were saved.Play switched to the other end and McArther and his defence easily cleared Mossley corners.Both sides were cancelling each other out and play became confined to midfield.With the clock running down and only seconds remaining in the half Mossley attacked and the ball broke to the left side of the circle where one of their forwards found himself in space and shot past McArther.

This setback changed the mood at half time and before they had a chance to settle they found themselves two down.Straight from the hitoff the ball went down the Mossley left wing and a hard cross was deflected past the helpless McArther.The North Down heads went down at this stage and a mistake by Sheppard let a forward in for number three.

North Down began to exert some pressure and McKeown had a shot smothered and then Linter had a shot flash wide of goal.They eventually pulled one back when Sheppard converted a penalty corner.The same player had another chance from a corner minutes later but his effort was saved.At this stage Mossley were happy to sit back and hold onto their lead.The final whistle went with North Down on the attack but unable to reduce the arrears further.

The return fixture with Mossley is on Wednesday evening at Comber Leisure Centre and it is hoped that on this occasion concentration levels will not drop and no silly mistakes made.