New Santos vs Newington
Although New Santos went into the game missing several key players and on the back of a very heavy defeat in the previous week's cup game, they had hoped to capitalise on Newington's slow start to the season.
The weather was hardly ideal but in the opening exchanges both sides fashioned chances. Douglas tried a speculative lob from the half way line early in the match that sailed over the Newington bar while Newington crafted several opportunities for their strikers. As Santos piled forward, relying on a strong aerial presence up front they were almost rewarded when Kieran Seaward forced a great save from the Newington Keeper with a free kick. Seaward had another free kick saved but within minutes Newington had broken the deadlock at the other end. A contentious penalty was awarded and Santos found themselves 1 - 0 down. The time spent bickering over the decision could hardly have helped the players and it was 2 - 0 minutes later when JP Byrne in the Santos goal made a fine save only for it to drop to the onrushing Newington striker, who tucked away the follow up. The Newington pressure was creating chance after chance while at the other end the ball seemed to break easily to their defence despite hard work from Simon Magee and Douglas winning the majority of high balls. Santos' only other chance of note came when Douglas controlled a long kick from JP Byrne, but, in a good position, he scuffed his shot straight at the Newington Keeper. Newington went 3 up when a high ball floated to the back post dropped between Kevin Carson and David Harrigan. Both players jumped for the same ball and the resulting clash meant the ball dropped kindly for a Newington player, who finished well.
Half Time: New Santos 0 - 3 Newington
Despite their best efforts to rally themselves at half time, the pattern of the first half re-emerged, as the Newington defenders were afforded too much time and space to support their midfield.The beleagured Santos players went down further, shortly after the break, to a well crafted Newington goal
Santos pulled a goal back through the seemingly tirelss Seaward when a long ball from Kevin Carson was headed into the centre by Douglas. Seaward released an unstoppable strike into the bottom corner of the Newington goal from all of 25 yards. This seemed to spur Santos and they had a promising spell of 10 -15 minutes but failed to create much of note and it wasn't long before Newington restored their lead to make it 5 - 1.
Full time: Newington 5 - 1New Santos
Starting XI:
GK - JP Byrne
RB - Paul Barr
CB - Chris Monan
CB - Ronan Doherty
LB - Kevin Carson
RM - Connor Chambers
CM - Kieran Seaward
CM - David Dougan
LM - David Harrigan ( Patty McClean )
CF - Simon Magee ( James Martin )
CF - Pol Douglas ( Brian Caldwell )
Santos Goal - Kieran Seaward ( Pol Douglas Assist )
Santos MOTM - Kieran Seaward - Worked endlessly in Midfield and deserved more from his team mates.
