Newcastle and District Amateur Football League.
Premier Division.
Ardglassxa0xa0xa03xa0xa0xa0xa0vxa0xa0xa00xa0xa0xa0Newcastle Swifts
It was a day of firsts as Ardglass entertained Newcastle Swifts at The Meadow for the first home match of the season on their brand new pitch with new management setup ofxa0xa0Neil Taggart – player manager, Dessie Campbell and Stephen Deegan writes Cyril McKinney.
Right from the first whistle Ardglassxa0xa0looked sharp and within 12 minutes were 2-0 up through captain Michael Magee who made a surging run through the heart of the Newcastle defence before unleashing an unstoppable shot past the visiting keeper on 5 minutes.
On 12 minutes Conor Kearney made it 2-0 with a cool finish from a right wing cross. Two minutes later Stephen Deegan was clean through but shot high and wide as many Ardglass supporters were already celebrating.xa0xa0
Newcastle edged their way into the game as Ardglass seemed to ease off the intensity of their early play and could of pulled one back on 19 minutes through McIlnerney but Moore the home was sharply off his line to block with his feet. Ardglass had further chances as the halftime approached as first Magee shot over on 43 minutes and then an O’Connor effort was saved by the visiting keeper on 45 minutes.
Within the first minute in the second Newcastle were awarded a penalty when Tumelty was upended in the box. The resulting penalty kick taken by Tumelty was well saved by Moore diving full stretch to his left. Within a minute of the penalty incident Ardglass went 3-0 up when a Taggart free from the right fell to Stephen Deegan 8 yards out and he had the composure to finish in style. Kearney had a further chance to increase the home advantage on 54 minutes but again the visiting keeper was able to make another fine save.
The game became a battle of the two midfields with the Ardglassxa0xa0pair of Magee and Rooney dominant and the rear guard of Taggart and Crangle sniffing out any attacking threat. Both keepers when called upon were equal to the task and kept the score line down.
With the result inevitable both teams rang the changes and used their subs bench. Ardglass were value for their win and could have and probably should have won by morexa0xa0while Newcastle kept battling all afternoon and never gave up but Ardglass had the extra bit of quality in their ranks.
Ardglass FC: Stephen Moore, Brian Crangle, Clifford O’Connor,Malachy Crangle, Neil Taggart, Matthew Rooney, Stephen Deegan, Michael Magee, John Beattie, Conor Kearney, Christian O’Connor. Subs: James Telford for Conor Kearney, Shea Dorrian for John Beattie,xa0xa0Luke Mulhall for Christian O’Connor.
Newcastle Swifts: Aidan Small, Mark Harbinson, Darren McAllen, James Maginn, Christopher Rice, Paul Tumelty, Richard McInerney, Stephen Cousins, Gareth Scannell, Timothy Sexton, Jonathan Boyle Subs:xa0xa0Thomas Rice for Christopher Rice, Stuart Hagen for Jonathan Boyle, Sean Mooney.
