United fell to their second consecutive defeat away to Lisburn Rangers on Saturday and can feel a little unfortunate as the home teams opening goal looked well offside and their second early in the second half took a wicked deflection of a defenders back to take it away from the grasp of keeper Brian McMullan.
United travel to the same opposition this week in the second round of the Irish Cup and they will be looking to gain some revenge for this defeat.
Newcastle & District Amateur League Division 3
The Albion played this home league match at Kilmore and came away with a convincing victory despite falling behind in the opening minutes.
Rathfriland went ahead on 15 minutes however the home side equalised very soon after and in an outstanding display went into the break 3 – 1 up.
In the second half they consolidated their victory with another two goals. The goal scorers were Alan Massey with a hat trick, Paul King and Graeme McMullan.
This was a great result for Davy Teggarty’s young charges who give their all every week and despite the occasional blip come back with regular displays that give everyone so much encouragement for the future.
NAFL DIVISION 1B
United’s long unbeaten run of nine games came to a disappointing end when they lost this league game at the Millbridge on Saturday last.
The game was quite even in the opening stages although United had the lion share of the possession with Cheevers prominent on the right wing.
The best chance of the first ten minutes fell to Patterson who found himself free inside the penalty area but as he delayed his shot the ball was cleared off his foot to safety for a corner. From the corner Stuart McMullan had the ball in the net but he was correctly adjudged by the referee to be offside.
On 20 minutes Sirocco took the lead from the penalty spot a decision that was hotly disputed. The ball had broken free in midfield and a Sirocco player picked it up and passed it into the path of his team mate who ran into the penalty area. He was challenged by at least three defenders and keeper Brian McMullan who cleared the ball for a corner however the player plunged to the ground and the referee who was quite well back gave the spot kick which Brian McMullan was unable to save.
United pressed forward but despite the amount of possession they had they did not threaten the Sirocco keeper. Just before the half hour mark Sirocco were 2-0 up when they again found space through the middle of the park to slip a forward in to score past Brian McMullan with a well executed finish.
In the second half United pressed to get back into the game and did so when a shot was defelcted into the Sirocco net by a defender but despite all their efforts they could not get the equaliser.
This was a disappointing result for the home team who were looking to this game to guage how much they had progressed as Sirocco are expected to challenge for honours this year. United were every bit their match however overplaying in the centre of the midfield area was their undoing for both of the goals. The other area that they need to improve in is in converting the opportunities they create into goals. At the end of the day they proved themselves to be every bit as good as Sirocco. This week they travel to another of the fancied teams away to Lisburn Rangers.
INTERMEDIATE CUP ROUND 1
United made the long trip on Saturday to Ardstraw near Newtownstewart County Tyrone for this first round Intermeduate Cup tie.
Strangely enough the opposition are no strangers to United as the clubs played each other in the same competition two seasons ago and a friendship having been built up resulted in United travelling there in a pre season friendly last August past.
On Saturday United went into this game without the services of Ross Hayes, Craig Bowman and Alan Patterson however they welcomed back Aaron Cheevers to the line up. The home side had been on a decent run of late and came into the game on the back of a good win last week and as United found to their cost they were revelling in the confidence that it had brought. Indeed Ardstraw went ahead on the half hour mark however this spurred United on and having enjoyed a fair bit of possession they finally equalised when David Kelly was placed in the right spot at the back post to head home.
The second half was a very cagey affair with both teams exercising caution however United got the breakthrough midway through the half when a Johnny Hunter free kick was placed into the edge of the six yard area and an Ardstraw defender put the ball into his own net under pressure.
The home team pressed for an equaliser but the United defence in which Boal, Carlisle, Herron were outstanding was giving nothing away backed up by competent handling from goalkeeper Brian McMullan.
This week United return to league action against Sirocco Works at the Millbridge with a 2pm kick off.
IRISH CUP – ROUND 2
United entertained near neighbours Dromore Amateurs at the Millbridge on Saturday last for the first time in a number of years in this Irish Cup 2nd Round tie.
The home team went into this game without regulars Aaron Cheevers, Ross Hayes, David Boal who were unavailable through holiday, injury and suspension respectively.
From the start the home team were on the attack and indeed maintained this for most of the game however it was Dromore who took the lead after ten minutes when their captain latched onto a loose ball from Stuart McMullan to score from some twenty five yards with a shot that sailed over keeper Brian McMullan’s head into the net.
While this stunned the home team it did not prevent them from getting into their passing game and throughout the remainder of the half they launched attack after attack with Ian McMullan, Johnny Hunter, David Kelly, Gareth Bingham and Craig Bowman all going close.
The second half resumed with United again on the attack with Johnny Hunter hitting the crossbar with a long range deflected shot.
Inside the first ten minutes United lost influential midfielder Stuart McMullan who had to leave the field with a very nasty facial injury that necessitated hospital treatment. The circumstances of the injury caused considerable upset to both team mates and the home supporters who were incensed that the referee did not see the offending punch.
When the game settled down United pressed for an equaliser and it came on the hour mark when Scott Brashaw and Johnny Hunter combined for Hunter to run onto the edge of the six yard box to score with a shot into the roof of the net.
Adam Herron who was making his first appearance of the season following injury took the place of the unfortunate Stuart McMullan and it was he who created the winning goal when he bombed forward onto a pass from Jonathan Smyth to centre the ball which was met by Ian McMullan who’s shot was deflected into the net past the despairing dive of the Dromore keeper.
The visitors pressed forward in search of an equaliser however they found the United defence of Brashaw, Patterson and JJ Carlisle in a very determined mood.
The home team introduced attacker Scott McKibbin and he stretched the Dromore defence with his strong runs.
United travel to Ardstraw this coming Saturday for an Intermediate Cup tie.
The Swifts and Albion games fell foul of the weather.
