Another comfortable win over Ballynahinch

Having beaten Ballynahinch 4-1 the previous week North Down travelled to Ballynahinch last Saturday in a confident mood despite being without the Linter brothers, skipper Ross and Jordan and Johnny Moore.

North Down dominated possession for most of the game but Ballynahinch as in the previous week defended stoutly.  Phil Wilson received a perfect pass from Josh Gilmore at the top of the circle and crashed an unstoppable shot past a bemused keeper to give North Down the lead after 7 minutes.  Moments later a similar situation arose but on this occasion it was Michael Black who found room at the top of the circle to crash home.  North Down won their first corner in the second quarter and Gareth McKeown blasted into the net.  Black was allowed space to move forward and notched his sides fourth when he got on the end of a rebound to score from 5 yards out.

In the third quarter North Down took their foot off the gas and made some sloppy mistakes when further goals looked a certainty.  Twice players lost their footing when through with only the keeper to beat and the Hinch keeper made some fine blocks to keep his goal intact.

The final quarter saw North Down play their best hockey with some fine one touch moves which had the Hinch defence in trouble.  North Down won a number of corners but, as was the case last week, the routine was disappointing with too many shots off target.  Good interplay from David Morris and Robbie Davidson led to Wilson getting his second  meeting a fine pass from the left and deflecting past the keeper from close range.  Morris completed the scoring with a reverse shot after picking up a loose ball in mid circle.  This was a competent display but the Comber boys will need to be more clinical with chances created when they travel to play Mossley this Saturday.

Burch Autos Man of the Match was Phil Wilson