Following a fairly easy 6:0 win on Monday night against Rosario at Loughmoss with Ryan Tweedy bagging a hat-trick, Caolan Cunningham another brace and Michael Lawson one, the lads faced their local rivals for a 2nd time in 5 days! What could change in 5 days?…………
Rosario stared much more energetically than the Colts, and with only 2 minutes gone a bit of indecision at the back followed by slack covering opened the door for Rosario, as they easily won the ball and played in their striker who opened up well curling the ball past Eoin Maguire into the net, good goal but very poor defending, 1:0 to Rosario. This shook the Colts into action, and with only 5 minutes gone it was all square, Peter Duncan won a defensive header which was in turn knocked on my Caolan Cunningham to set Tommy Connery free to drive into the box and finish in some style to make it 1:1.
Rosario continued to push a high line, and if wasn’t for the excellent Eoin Maguire in the Colts goals they would have conceded at least twice before the half, Eoin made two terrific saves from the Rosario strikers and his distribution was pin point accurate all day.
The half ended 1:1 with an odd long range shot from the Colts and two great free kicks from Ryan Tweedy, one the keeper almost palmed into the net but he caught it as the ball headed towards the net.
The 2nd half had the Colts performing better, but they still couldn’t get that 2nd goal, and another great free kick from Ryan went straight through a body of players and hit the outside of the post. Rory Reilly also ended a great passage of play with a deflected shot which the Rosario keeper did well to stop. Again the Colts pressed, and with 12 minutes to go Simon Turkington won a header just inside the Rosario half, again this header found Caolan Cunningham who headed the ball into the path of the advancing Turkington who broke into the box and tucked the ball under the advancing Rosario keeper, 2:1 to the Colts and a well deserved lead.
The last 10 minutes where a bit nervous for the Colts, but Eoin Maguire in the Colts nets did well to calm things down with another couple of stops and excellent distribution to the front line.
The game ended 2:1 to the Colts, so 6 points in 5 days off our local rivals and more importantly moves the Colts up to 2nd place in the Premier league.
The next game is a real league decider against top of the table Newhill on Wednesday night at Loughmoss (18:45 ko), who the lads beat comfortably 4:1 back in October, and with other results over the last few weeks the Colts have it all to play for as the title is in their own hands to win. It’s a huge week as the League Cup semi-final is next weekend when Antrim Rovers from Div 1 are the opponents (venue and time tbc).
Final result, Rosario 1:2 Carryduff Colts
Scorers: Tommy Connery & Simon Turkington
Man of The Match: Eoin Maguire.