Sudden death loss for South

South Antrim continued their fine pre-season form under new coach Drew Campbell in the Anderson Cup last weekend. The local side were placed in a group along with premier league sides Cookstown, Belfast Harlequins and fellow Senior 1 side Raphoe in this revamped “9-a-side, 24 minute matches” competition.
By The Newsroom
Published 6th Sep 2014, 12:00 BST

Under the Friday night lights, South drew 1-1 with Raphoe before drawing 0-0 with Harlequins in matches the lads can consider themselves unfortunate not to have won. But it was the ultimate group match between Cookstown and South which captivated the hearts of onlookers. Cookstown, who had already comfortably won their previous two group games, succumbed to the youthful and exuberant South side who were mesmerising on the break. Goals in the first half from Chris Henry and Jonathon Patterson put the Lisburn side 2-0 up and, despite Cookstown pulling one back 7 minutes from time, South held on for a thoroughly deserved win and the biggest upset of the group stages.

This victory ensured that South progressed to the Anderson Plate Semi-final, as runners up in the group behind Cookstown.

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The finals day, staged at Banbridge HC on Sunday, pitted South against Premier League opposition for the third time in the form of Kilkeel. However, once again, it was the men in red and black who recorded victory. Matthew Getty (2), Patric Cochrane (2) and Paul Maguire registered the goals in the thrilling 5-0 win.

With Instonians recording a 2-0 win over Civil Service in the other semi-final, it was another Irish Hockey League side, like Cookstown, that South would have to beat if they wanted to lift some silverware. After a tense, but fascinating 24 minutes nonetheless, the scoreline remained 0-0 with South ultimately losing on sudden death penalty shuttles to the Premier League outfit. Despite the heartbreaking manner of defeat, this South Antrim side can look ahead to the season with confidence having proven to many in Ulster hockey circles that they have what it takes to meddle with the big boys.

Elsewhere, South Thirds and Fourths got their pre-seasons off to a good start with both recording friendly wins over Mossley. Nathan Donald’s Thirds ran out worthy 4-2 winners. George Glass scored two goals on his return to hockey following injury with Jamie Cochrane and Paul Beattie bagging the other two.

The Fourths defeated their Mossley counterparts 2-1 with the opening goal coming courtesy of Stephen Hood via a reverse stick effort from a tight angle. Chris Moulden doubled the lead for South with a clinical finish following a mazey run. South were unlucky to concede just before full time but this game lay down good foundations for the new season particularly with several youth players impressing on their senior club debuts.