New Santos vs Whiterock United
With the safety zone with touching distance, New Santos went in search of a win which could prove vital in the battle to stay in the Premier Division. Ronan Doherty welcomed back veteran Johnny Magill for his first start of the season, and Alan Harper, playing his first game for Santos since 2002.
Santos had the better of the opening ten minutes and created a couple of chances, the best of which fell to Brian Caldwell who was left unmarked from 6 yards out but couldn’t stretch his leg far enough to direct the ball goal wards and his shot went wide. Whiterock responded with a couple of chances of their own as the first half became a cauldron of poor defensive displays from both sides.
Santos almost went ahead mid-way through the first half, when Darran Hollands low header was superbly saved by the Whiterock keeper. Soon after, Whiterock broke down the right with a lovely passing move which resulted in the ball hitting the back of the Santos goal.
Kieran Seaward came close to equalising for Santos with a 30 yard effort which just went wide as an even, and very open first half came to a close.
Half-time: New Santos 0-1 Whiterock United
Although not quite as open as the first, there were still plenty of chances in the second half as Santos pushed on looking for an equaliser. Things didn’t go to plan for Santos however, as Whiterock maintained the majority of the possession. With around a third of the game left, they doubled their lead as their striker got in between the Santos defence and goalkeeper and lifted the ball into the net.
Despite going further behind, Santos kept battling but to no avail. Despite spells of pressure around the Whiterock defence, they failed to create any real openings. As the game drew to a close, Whiterock upped the pressure on Santos once more and had an effort cleared off the line by Martin Magee before the whistle blew.
Full-time: New Santos 0-2 Whiterock United
Team:
GK: JP Byrne
DL: Alan Harper (Sean Carson)
DR: Paul McKillop
DC: David Dougan
DC: Brian Caldwell
ML: Stephen Copeland (Pol Douglas)
MR: Paul Barr
MC: Johnny Magill (Paddy O’Reilly)
MC: Kieran Seaward
SC: Martin Magee
SC: Darran Holland
