North Down beaten late by South Antrim

Saturday saw North Down travel to another tough away fixture, this time to face second in the league South Antrim. 

The game started evenly, with both sides creating chances in the first quarter but it was North Down who would find the break through. After some good defensive work from North, the ball was played to Andrew Boyd whose long pass found Andrew Welsh. Welsh picked the ball up just outside the D, and took it round 2 South players and just when you thought the chance was gone as he was forced wide, Welsh was able to scoop it past the keeper to make it 1-0. 

The second quarter saw North Double their lead. A strong run from Paddy Smith into the D created chaos from South Antrim, when Scott Graham was able to take the ball round the keeper, only for his shot to be stopped on the line by a South foot. Josh Gilmore stepped up to score the stroke putting North 2-0 up at half time. 

The 3 quarter went very well for North. They were compact and didn’t allow many chances for South Antrim to score. Some excellent defence specifically from young Kane Mockford at times kept them quiet. 

Unfortunately, North Down couldn’t hold onto their lead in the last quarter despite some top saves from Rory Cunningham keeping North Down in the game. The South Antrim crowd rallied behind their team and once South Antrim got the first goal, momentum was on their side. They scored 3 more goals in the final quarter with the game ending in a 4-2 loss.

Some positives to take for North Down but with us half way through the season, they will be keen to start picking up some points for these good performances.

Burch Autos Man of the Match – Rory Cunningham