Tight but scrappy game at The Dub
The mens thirds made the short trip to The Dub to face Queens seconds in the last group game of the Junior Two League Cup, knowing that a win would almost certainly secure a semi-final place. A 15 strong and fit Queens side looked well prepared compared to the travelling twelve who were missing a raft of options due to illness and unavailability throughout the club.
The game started at pace and it wasn’t long before the hosts took the lead scoring form a tight angle in the 4th minute. Not to be too disheartened with the poor start, North Down started to create chances with Stephen Magee going close. Good work in the midfield from Andy McKee and Scott Graham continued to turn over ball and it was end to end stuff. At the back, Paul Beaney and Colin Mockford showed their strength and continued to keep the students at bay.
In the 2nd quarter the Comber men got back into it, when a reverse found Phil Wilson at the back post to equalise from close range. Momentum shifted firmly in favour of the visitors and in the 3rd quarter excellent work down the right hand side from McKee and the overlapping Sam Brown, caused all sorts of havoc for the Queens defence. Brown soon found Pyper in the area and the striker finished strongly from another tight angle to take a 2-1 lead.
In the final quarter the thirds lost possession too many times with poorly paced passing and Queens countered. Eventually with 5 minutes to go the attacking threat was all too much and a scrappy goal tied the match at 2-2. A disappointing draw given the period that North Down led the game however given the squad depth, a great result on the day. The fate of progression in the cup is now reliant on other results going North Down’s way.
Burch Autos Man of the Match was Scott Graham.