Linden Cup Win Over South Antrim

North Down entertained South Antrim on Wednesday evening in the Linden Cup.They were delighted to welcome back to the fold Andy Forrest who had 3 successful seasons at Lisnagarvey.However the squad is still plagued by injuries and Michael Black and Jordan McKee were not available along with Tom Donnan who had other commitments.

In the first period North Down attacked strongly creating a number of chances but poor finishing in front of goal kept the scoreline at 0-0.Great play by Andy McGimpsey saw him drive into the South 25. His pass found Simon Watt unmarked and he cooly slotted the ball into the far corner to give the home side the lead.Shortly after Paul Adgey drove the ball into the circle and the ball was deflected past the visitors keeper by one of his own defenders giving him no chance.North Down piled on the pressure and Chris Speers was unlucky not to score from a corner. The ball appeared to enter the net but the umpire adjudged that the shot went wide.At half time it transpired that a hole in the net had not been noticed by the officials.

However North Down regained their composure and continued to control the game but were unable to add to the scoreline due to poor finishing.South Antrim had few scoring opportunities but these were capably dealt with by Gareth McBride.With about 12 minutes remaining South pulled a goal back when the defence was caught flat footed. The concern now was could South pull another goal back and snatch a draw which their play would not have deserved, North Down retained possession well and in the dying seconds were awarded a penalty which was expertly converted by Andy Forrest to give a final scoreline of 3-1.

Back to the league on Saturday when they welcome Queens and then next week visit Portadown to see who progresses to the semi final stage of the Linden cup