New Santos vs Sporta
For the eigth time in nine games Santos were at home at Strangford Avenue against Sporta.
In the first minute of the game a ball over the top caught out the Santos defence only for the Sporta striker to slip in the box. Sporta continued to have the best of the opening 20 minutes until Martin Magees long range shot squired through the Sporta keeper to give Santos a one goal lead. Soon after however a looping Sporta effort made its way past JP Byrne to equalise.
Santos pushed on from the equaliser and Anthony McGreevy came close twice, firstly being denied by the keeper in a one-on-one then by the bar. An even half drew to a close with the game still capable of going either way.
Half-time: New Santos 1-1 Sporta
The second half started like the first with Sporta on top. They came close to taking the lead on several occasions with JP Byrne pushing a 20 yard strike onto the post and David Dougan and Gareth Cullen making goal line clearances to keep the score level.
On 65 minutes Paul Barr scored for the second game in a row with a fine finish from 12 yards. Sporta pressed for an equaliser before a 3 minute spell put the game to rest. Gareth Cullen's superb 20 yard right footed volley gave Santos a 3-1 lead before Stevie Copeland crossed for McGreevy to head in.
Sporta kept going despite the deficit and got a goal back on 80 minutes with a nice finish from their striker. Despite their late pressure Sporta were kept at bay and Santos recorded another league win to stay in contention at the top of the table.
Full-time: New Santos 4-2 Sporta
New Santos Team:
GK: JP Byrne
RB: Conor Chambers
CB: David Dougan
CB: Kevin Carson
LB: Gareth Cullen
RM: Martin Magee (Joe Magee)
CM: Kevin Kerr (David Harrigan)
CM: Paul Barr
LM: Stevie Copeland
ST: Anthony McGreevy
ST: Paddy O'Reilly (Ronan Doherty)
Santos Goals : Martin Magee, Paul Barr, Gareth Cullen (Martin Magee assist), Anthony McGreevy (Stevie Copeland assist)
MOTM: Paul Barr
