NEWCASTLE & DISTRICT AMATEUR FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Davy Teggarty’s young Albion side have been on a good run of form in recent weeks and so it continued this week with a fine performance against a strong Strangford reserve side.
The afternoon didn’t start too well when experienced keeper Johnny McGreevy dislocated a finger in the warm up and had to go to hospital. Luckily teenage central defender John McMenamin is a handy goalkeeper and he deputised.
The Albion started brightly and with five minutes gone, Graeme McMullan had the ball in the Strangford net only for it to be disallowed for what was apparently offside.
The first goal came after 35 minutes and at that point slightly against the run of play because the visitors had got back into the game. Live-wire Stuart Wilcox took a pass from Ross Bingham in the centre of the park and he unleashed a long range shot which deceived the Strangford keeper in the strong sunshine to go into the net.
Wilcox who was causing all sorts of problems with his strong running made it 2-0 on 55 minutes when he latched onto a loose ball in the six yard box to score. Moments after the restart Alan Massey intercepted the ball in centre midfield after a good tackle from Ciaran Bonner and he fired a twenty yard shot into the net which went in off a post.
With The Albion firmly in the driving seat, Steven Bridges spurned a number of chances – indeed he could and should have had a hat trick.
On 70 minutes a mix up between Bingham and Massey let Strangford in to make it 3-1 and moments later more poor defending saw the deficit reduced to one with the score at 3-2. Some last ditch defending from King and Shaun Bonner saved the day as the Albion struggled. However a long clearance was picked up by Gareth Scott who passed to Wilcox and the midfielder stormed into the penalty area to score an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
This was another excellent display from this young team who are working very hard for their manager and each other.
