Ballynahinch unable to halt Campbellians

13 January 2016

BALLYNAHINCH hopes of a winning start to 2016 were dashed by an impressive Campbellians side at St. Colman’s High and Sixth Form College last weekend.

The visitors took the lead in the fifth minute against an understrength Ballynahinch first eleven missing a number of key players.

Early Campbellians pressure inside the Ballynahinch circle lead to a poor clearance which was picked up by centre forward Craig Mack who made no mistake, hammering the ball home through a crowd of players and past unsighted ‘keeper Dave Chadwick.

Ballynahinch almost equalised in the eighth minute when Mark Graham ran onto a superb pass from Ross McGaul, but his first time effort sailed harmlessly over the Campbellians crossbar.

In the 13th minute, Campbellians were awarded a short corner after a heavy stick tackle by a Ballynahinch defender and Mack stepped up to score his second goal of the day. This time he placed the ball low to Chadwick’s right hand side.

The home side was sorely missing the steadying influence of Andy Mcilwaine, Andrew Mulholland and Stuart Hunter and, as a result, played without cohesion throughout the game.

Teamwork was sadly lacking, with most playing as individuals. That said, solo runs from Alex Millar, Kyle Patterson, Jason Campbell and skipper for the day Gary Graham could have easily produced goals, if only supporting players had put in more effort to get into positions to help their team mates out, or draw defenders out of position.

Another poor tackle in the Ballynahinch defence allowed Mack to complete his hat-trick when a short corner was awarded. The menacing forward pounced on the the ball when the initial shot rebounded off ‘keeper Chadwick’s pads.

In fact, his fierce follow-up rising shot was almost saved when Peter Simpson attempted to steer the ball around the upright, but his gallant effort went unrewarded and the ball deflected at speed off his stick into the top corner of the net.

Campbellians piled on the pressure in the second half and a well worked two man move left Chadwick stranded as Connor Bannister converted from close rang to take the score to 4-0.

In the latter stages, both Mark Graham and Alex Millar went close, again from individual efforts but a rash tackle from the former in the 60th minute resulted in a second yellow card which was upgraded to a red and he took no further part in the game.

The visitors took full advantage of their numerical advantage and a scorching run down the left wing from former Ballynahinch player Ashley Brown saw his pinpoint cross slotted home past Chadwick by Bannister who scored his second goal of the afternoon.

It was with great sadness Ballynahinch Hockey Club learned of the death of former player, friend and club captain Ian Watson. The club would like to extend its condolences to the Watson family circle at this sad time.

Ballynahinch 0

Campbellians 5

SENIOR 1

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