On a wet rainy day on a soft mucky pitch the conditions was always going to make football hard. With the brushes out to clear water from one of the goal mouths the Referee was happy the pitch was playable so it was game on.
We were short of a few players today due to boys being away and others out injured, so we had only 12 players and a debut start was given to Ben Dempster up front. The boys were finding it hard to come to terms with the weather & pitch conditions and Rosario were certainly making it hard for us as well. It took us till the 25th minute to finally get the break through and it came from the penalty spot when Ben Dempster receive the pass from Ryan Hannah just inside the box, he made his way past the defender who clipped Ben's heal and down he went. The Referee pointed straight away to the spot with strong protests coming from the Rosario line but to be fair yes it was a soft penalty but anywhere else on the field it would have been a penalty, so the Referee call it right. Up stepped Captain Reece Atkinson to keep his 100% record from the spot and slot the ball into the net; 1:0 Ards. We were certainly not at our best in the first half but for me the best earned goal of the day was our second one which came right on the stroke of half time to take the pressure of us for the second half. Ben Dempster laid the ball in to the path of the speedy Stuart Hannah who skipped past the Rosario defence to go one on one with the keeper as he went past the keeper the keeper grabbed his ankle, Stuart stayed on his feet and hit the shot towards goal a defender managed to get a bloke on it but Stuart composed himself got to the rebound and slotted it home; 2:0 Ards.
HALF TIME: 2.0
Half time instructions was to get the passing more accurate and work as a team and the goals would come.
Young Ben Appleton came on for Ben Dempster who had acquitted himself well in the first half. Ards when went on to turn on the style and grab four goals in a five minute period. The first came in the 59th minute from Noah Crenshaw (who had been in great for in the last match against Bryansburn where he scored twice)Brandon McFerran surged down the right wing sending over a cross which Ryan Hannah controlled brilliantly with his chest into the path of Noah who smashed the ball into the back of the net; 3:0 Ards. Two minutes later Noah hit a shot from 20 yards out which looked as though the keeper had it in his sights but it came off the back of Ben Appleton and over the keeper into the net for Ben's first goal of the season; 4:0 Ards. Two minutes later a poor clearance from the Rosario defence saw the ball fall at the feet of Jack Patterson who from about 25 yards out smashed an unstoppable shot high into the net; 5:0 Ards. Then straight from the kick off Edward Muldrew won the ball in the midfield sending it to Noah Crenshaw on the edge of the box, Noah hit a shot straight at the keeper low to his left hand post but the keeper spilled the shot and it found its way into the net for Noah's second of the match and his 4th goal in to matches; 6:0 Ards. Ards were now in total control of the match and everyone was now trying to get on the score sheet as we kept the pressure on. Ben Dempster came back on with 10 minutes remaining and was very unlucky not to get his first goal of the season when a corner was half cleared the ball was sent back in and Ben pocked it into the net but was deemed to be offside which was probably the right decision as the keeper was beyond Ben and there was only one defender in front of him.
FULL TIME: 6.0
Managers Comments:
Well done everyone today as the conditions were poor but you took the bull by the horns in the second half and got the job done. You will need determination like this to win the league and we all know you can do it as its in our own hands. #RABA
Coaches Comments:
Robbie McGarry
Well done Ards FC u16s winning today 6-nil against Rosario youth u16s not our best performance but another 3 points on the board keep it up.
Parents Comments:
Roberta Atkinson
Nice we 6 nil win today Ards FC Academyninetyeights let's keep this goin and win the league.
