Fourths’ earn first point

The Fourths lined up with Andrew Adair in goal; Dylan Cowan, Nigel Allister, Roger Martin and Andrew Liggett in defence; Jordan Oliver, David Gallagher, David Morrison and Nathan Liggett in midfield; Craig Campbell and Matthew Clarke in attack; with Matthew Young, Niall Burns and Matthew Graham as subs.

The match began at a fast pace, with both sides testing one another’s defence. Unfortunately, Mossley scored with a clinical route one attack to go one up, however this only spurred the Fourths on.

The local team pressed the opposition hard and produced an equaliser before half time. Roger Martin took a free from outside the 25. The ball was hit hard into the Mossley D, where Niall Burns was on hand to hit it first time across the keeper to hit the back board.

After half time Mossley took advantage of having a low sun position in the eyes of Banbridge to fire one aerial after the other.

This tactic did pose quite a threat as the Bann defence struggled at times to track the flight of the ball, but thankfully the defence quickly extinguished this.

As the game drew towards a close Banbridge piled on the pressure and missed a few glorious chances to win the game, this did allow Mossley to threaten as well as Bann pushed more and more for the victory.

Mossley were awarded several short corners which were easily dealt with by Andy Adair and a last minute stick save by a defender also meant Banbridge came away with a valuable point.

The Fourths continue to improve and work hard as a unit. They look forward to next week’s match against Cookstown.