Bann fours undone by early league leaders

NICS had a few early chances but these were snuffed out by the experienced Nigel Allister and fresh faced Dylan Cowan as the centre back pairing.

These two men rotated with the evergreen Roger Martin to provide protection for Leon Glover in nets. Lee Groves and Aaron McConnell provided good outlets for the centre backs and showed some great attacking prowess from the back, to link well with Jordan Oliver and Craig Campbell in left and right midfield respectively.

As the match continued, Banbridge grew in confidence and started to attack more and stamp their authority on the game.

The centre midfield pairing of David Gallagher and David Morrison combined well to start the majority of the attacks and unlock the Civil Service defence. Morrison made a fine stick save on the line from a NICS short corner to keep the opposition out. Matthew Clarke, fresh from his epic stroke against Antrim 2s the previous week, and Joel Reid worked hard up front trying to provide an outlet for the team and put NICS to the sword.

Matthew Graham, Ben McConnell, Matthew Young and Nathan Liggett came on during the course of the half to build on the pressure. However, Civil Service scored due to the accumulation of several individual errors before half time.

Matthew Graham and Craig Campbell had excellent chances to pull the game back towards Banbridge’s favour but NICS scored two goals around the hour mark to ensure they went to the top of the league.

Banbridge Fours are improving every game and are showing glimpses of their potential. The team has no doubt that the supporters will continue to stand with the Fours.