Men’s thirds fruitless Raphoe trip
A strong North Down third eleven travelled to play Raphoe seconds last Saturday with hopes of kick starting their so far pointless season.
The first quarter was controlled by the visitors possession wise with their defensive line playing ball high up the pitch. This was creating openings down the flanks however the experienced Raphoe defence stood strong and nullified any threat. North continued to pass around the back however the so far patient play was wearing thin and an ambitious pass from Colin Mockford was intercepted and with North’s defence so high, a flowing counter attack led to the home side going a goal up. The goal lifted Raphoe and they started to get in around the back of the North Down defence. A misplaced foot led to a short corner and a bullet strike rattled in off the post giving Mockford no chance.
Into the second quarter saw the welcome return of Peter Shields, creating a father-son link up with the impressive James Shields who is definitely one to watch for the future. Shields senior started upfront but soon migrated back into a midfield role where he had much more ball and impact on the game. He soon put Sam Pyper through behind the defence. The Raphoe keeper forced him wide left, but Pyper cut back inside and with the keeper stranded, his flicked effort was saved off the line by a retreating defender. North started to get back into the game and a misplaced pull out from a short was slipped to Stephen Magee whose effort was saved making it 2-0 down at half time but North Down’s tails were up.
The second half continued with the visitors having most possession however another error led to another short corner and Peter Gray could only parry into the roof of the net. This sucked the life out of the visitors but into the final quarter, a great move down the right hand side started by young Shields found Scott Irwin out wide. Irwin beat his man and hit the baseline. A quick one-two with Pyper opened up the Raphoe defence and Irwin pulled the ball back to Ben Bond who stroked home from close range. North Down continued to press and created chances. Magee used his silky skills to penetrate the area and beat two defenders but the goalkeeper smothered any further advancement. A switch right from a short corner to Pyper should have been converted but he shot wide. Bond deflected a crashed ball from Andy Walls but it too went wide. With time against them, the clock ran out and left the thirds still hunting their first win of the season.
Burch Autos Man of the Match was James Shields