As Storm Amy battered Comber, both sides braved the elements in search of a spot in the League Cup semi-finals. Both teams started strong, and the pace of play was high from the first whistle. North Down struck first when Scott Irwin pulled off a tidy reverse stick interception, followed by a quick one-two with Blair, and calmly slotted it home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cookstown ramped up the pressure in the second quarter, winning a flurry of short corners, all comfortably dealt with by Rory Cunningham who made a series of great saves. North Down\u2019s e\u0335l\u0335d\u0335e\u0335r\u0335l\u0335y\u0335 experienced defence of Adgey, Mark Linter, Gippy and Jarry D continued to soak up pressure and made sure North kept a 1-0 lead going into HT.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the third quarter, Cookstown proved seventh time\u2019s a charm and finally equalised from a relatively bland short corner routine. With one foot finally back in the game, one Cookstown player made the questionable decision to scythe (the always innocent) Dalzell, a bold strategy which really did not pay off for them. Yellow card Cookstown, advantage North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The home side capitalised thanks to an Adgey through ball and a delicate Moore flick putting Blair through on goal. Blair took a touch, beat his man and launched his shot high into the net, receiving The Times \u2018Goal of the Month\u2019 on the spot just 4 days into October. The home side pressed forward again as Robbo picked out Phil Wilson on the bi-line, who produced some silky skills to win a short corner. North Down\u2019s routine found Mark Shannon who swiped it towards goal, hitting a Cookstown player on the line and receiving a penalty stroke in return. Shannon stepped up and gave the keeper the eyes, sent him for a pack of Bensons and made it 3-1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the final quarter, North Down kept their structure and defended their lead. As legs tired, the young guns of Thomas, Charlie, Paddy and Harry all stepped up, giving a well needed boost of energy, and helped North close out the game. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This win sends North Down through to the League Cup semifinals, where they\u2019ll face Lisnagarvey 2s. Unbeaten in their last three, Bailie\u2019s men now look to kick off their Junior 1 League campaign with some momentum on their side!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MOTM: Rory Cunningham<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As Storm Amy battered Comber, both sides braved the elements in search of a spot in the League Cup semi-finals. Both teams started strong, and the pace of play was high from the first whistle. North Down struck first when Scott Irwin pulled off a tidy reverse stick interception, followed by a quick one-two with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17855","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-match-reports","category-mens"],"yoast_head":"\n