South Fourths’ fine start to the season goes on

Harlequins Thirds 0

After the heroics in Ballynahinch last Friday night, South were presented with the opportunity to gain a few points on one of their close rivals, Harlequins.

After observing a minutes silence in respect to a member of Harlequins Hockey Club whose mother had recently passed away, the match started.

South started defending very deep but tried to hit hard on the counter attack, but seemed to struggle for the first 15 minutes. The final ball was always just off but thankfully the South defence were in top form with the back 5 having great games, giving the forwards a chance to feel their way into the game. When they did, it resulted in the first goal of the game. After some great midfield play, the ball was crashed in from the left to leave Nathan Donald with a tap in past the keeper.

Harlequins stepped up their game and really put the South defence under pressure for the next 5 minutes, but they stood strong and weathered the storm and their reward came when Alan Smith at the back found Aaron McKeown from a hit out, who slipped it into Adam Thompson in the D who smashed the ball past the Quins keeper from a tight angle into the bottom corner.

The second half was almost the reverse of the first, with South having most of the ball but unable to convert anything. Harlequins were then forced to play on the counter attack but the South back 4 marked their men and with numerous interceptions by Jamie Cochrane, Duncan Flemming, Lee Heasely, Alan Smith and Andrew Smylie at the back, Quins’ chances were limited. However they still managed to force several top class saves from South keeper Andy Cameron who is going from strength to strength.

Final score at Deramore was 2-0 to South, giving them a great start to the season having won 4 out of 5 away games. Man of the match was Gary Hylands for a fantastic shift in the middle of the park, guarding the back 4 at one end and creating chances at the other.

The 4ths play their first home game this weekend against Bangor, this could be one of the last games of club hockey at Laurelhill so a big turnout would be much appreciated. Let’s hope the 4ths can continue their great start and give the Fort a big send-off next week before they move across the town to their new home at Friends’ School, Lisburn.

Thanks to South’s Sponsor of the Month, Sports Dock.