North Down 5s edged out 5–3 in Friday night thriller at Mossley
ND 5s made the journey across Belfast for an early evening match against Mossley 5s under the Friday night lights hoping to kick start their League Cup campaign after a slow start last weekend. The game started as a very even early season affair with a number of nice attacks breaking down in the final third as both teams struggled to find their rhythm and passes failed to find their mark. North Down were the quicker to find their attacking form and exerted a period of dominance which resulted in a deserved lead, Billy Pollock scoring with a fine strike to mark yet another goalscoring success for the Irish Master. The second quarter was very even with neither team creating much in the way of scoring chances. 1-0 at half-time.
The second half started with Mossley growing into the game and looking the more likely to score, with a pair of significant chances from penalty corners bringing great saves from keeper Ali Hume. Mossley were however unable to break their duck until the 4th quarter started and what a quarter it was..
Mossley were determined to take something from the game and flew out of the blocks to begin the period. Some clever play through the midfield resulted in a left wing break along the baseline and when the Hume ran out to close the angle a clever pullback resulted in a penalty flick when a defender blocked the goal-bound shot. 1-1. Hoping to re-take the lead, ND flooded forward only to get sucker-punched on the break with a fine strike from the right of circle as Mossley took the lead 2-1. Again ND tried to exert pressure but lost the ball in midfield and Mossley broke the defensive line to create a 1 v 1 forcing the Hume to rush out and narrow the angle. Unfortunately he slid out and took man and ball resulting in a second penalty flick – 3-1 to Mossley.
Anyone thinking the game was over was to be proven wrong as North Down tried to get back on terms. A hopeful long ball was met by the stick of Michael Carney as the keeper stood helpless and the ball spun into the bottom corner of the goal. 3-2 and game on!
Despite the foothold in the game, substitutions and early season rustiness let Mossley flood forward and score twice to lead 5-2, before Elijah Harte pulled one back to make the final score 5-3 in a highly entertaining encounter for the neutrals.
Fun fact – Billy Pollock scored his first club goal nearly 55 years ago against ND in a team that included Chris Harte, grandfather of fellow scorer Elijah Harte!