Today saw us travel up to Blanchflower to play Carryduff Colts as this was our second meeting this season there was no doubt that this was going to be a good game as the first match finished 1 : 1.
With two of the regular player called off at the last minute ( Marcus Baron out with a sore throat & top goalscorer Jack Patterson missing as well ) we had no time to call in our reserves so we had to go with two subs light.
With a bit of brushing and forking of the pitch as where was a bit of surface water on the pitch but both parents and coaches from both teams cleared the pitch and the match got underway. We kicked off in our usual style and took the game straight to Carryduff and within 6 minutes we were in front, when some neat passing saw Reece Atkinson find Matthew Guest on the edge of the box and he let fly and his shot hit the back of the net 1 : 0 Ards. Carryduff certainly were here to play and came straight back at us but our defence were at their usual best. Both teams were creating chances but Ards on the 19th minute grabbed their second goal, Brandon McFerran pushed forward and then threaded a lovely pass through to Noah Crenshaw who didn’t hesitate to put the ball in the back of the net, 2 : 0 Ards. Things were looking good for Ards but the wheels were about to fall off the wagon and two minutes later Carryduff pulled one back, 2 : 1 Ards. Then five minutes later it was 2 : 2, to bad mistakes and Carryduff were back in the match.
HALF TIME 2 : 2
Half time team talk was simple to learn from the mistakes and tighten up but no sooner than 5 minutes into the second half we found ourselves 3 : 2 down again we had shot ourselves in the foot. We kept going looking for the equaliser but heads were down and when we did get chances we just couldn’t find the net. Carryduff were reduced to 10 men 20 minutes left in the second half so right away we went with a back three and played with an extra striker up front but we just couldn’t find that equaliser and Carryduff worked hard with their ten men to get the result well played Carryduff.
FULL TIME 2 : 3
MANAGERS COMMENTS:
This was certainly our worst performance this season, too many players below par but I home you all learn from this and correct this in our next match against Cliftonville. With result going our way we are still in a very good position but I must warn you all every match in this league will be a tough match and you will have to be at your best in every other match. I know you all can do that so bring it on points to prove boys.
