NIBFA cup Round 2 REPORT BY ROBERT MORROW
Sat 2nd February 2013 – Ashfield 10.15 ko - Opposition – Portadown FC Youth
National lge team Portadown FC Youth were probably not the ideal opponents for us after a month without a game, however this was what the draw in round 2 in the NIBFA CUP threw out for us. So with rousing words of encouragement the lads made their way from the changing room on to the vast Ashfield pitch determined to make a mockery of their underdog tag. Not surprisingly Portadown had the bulk of the possession early on, zipping the ball about with neat precison passing. We expected this and we defended brilliantly with a back four of Geo, Paddy, Cameron and Josh Burford performing heroics. Interceptions, ferocious tackling, blocked shots, clearances were all there...in fact i reckon BBC MOTD pundit Alan Hansen would have been proud of this defence!! It’s games like this you need your keeper to be on top form and we are lucky to have Josh Johnston. His handling was exceptional and he drew gasps from every spectator with an unbelievable save to finger-tip a close-range shot over the bar in the 15th minute. After a nervy start we settled down and began to really have a go at Portadown. Niall and Tom in central midfield grew into the game and soon began to find their passing game. We found great space down the left where Thomas linked well with Jamie however we were just unable to work a shot to test their keeper. Over on the right Tom McIlhatton managed to get past his marker a couple of times but his crosses were well cleared. Euan was playing just off Jamie and did well at times just to grab hold of the ball and keep possession for his team-mates under intense pressure. Adam was brought on for Euan to see if his pace could unsettle the ports defence and force them into mistakes, it very nearly worked at times, though composure let us down in the final third. Our resistance was broken however after about 20 mins when a pass split our defence and in an instant the ball was in the net. Thankfully we held out to half time only a goal behind.
Half-time : Holywood 0 , Portadown 1.
Euan was brought back on again for the second half and Tongai was introduced at left-back to add a bit of steel to that side of the pitch and he certainly didn’t show any respect to anybody in a red shirt, tackling like his life depended on it. Disappointingly, within 10 mins of the second half Portadown had added a further two goals. A few positional changes were made to try to change things. One of these resulted in a goal when Cameron was moved on to the right wing and put over a great cross to find Josh Burford to slot home. Hopes of a comeback were premature as Portadown scored a fourth a minute after the re-start. The comeback was back on again when Niall hit a superb long range free-kick to make it 4-2. In the closing minutes we won a few corners and free kicks but just couldn’t create any clear cut chances to close the gap. So it finished 4-2 to the visitors but I think I can honestly say that I have never been more proud of this team after witnessing such a tremendous performance. The cup giant-killing was not to be and so we move on next week to league business. If we play like we did against Portadown we’ll have no fears the rest of the season.
Result : Holywood 2 , Portadown 4 ; Goal scorers – Josh Burford(41 mins) , Niall Grimley(49 mins).
MOTM - Josh Johnston...purely for the ‘save of the season’. Squad – Josh Johnston, George Moore, Paddy Crookshanks, Cameron Alexander, Josh Burford, Tom Mc Illhatton, Tom Wilson, Niall Grimley, Thomas Wilson, Jamie Owens, Euan Morrow, Adam Collins, Tongai Watson.
