Dour game but hosts get league campaign off to a winning start

LSISNAGARVEY won their opening Premier League match of the new season when they defeated Civil Service at Comber Road.

This turned out to be a dour featureless game which saw, for the second week running, a Garvey side struggling for any semblance of rhythm or purpose.

They had great difficulty in stringing together more than three consectutive passes and only because their opponents were devoid of attacking options did the home side eventually come out on top by such a slender margin.

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Again playing without key players, Brian Waring, Mark Raphael and Timmy Cockram, Garvey always had more of the ball in the early stages but could not produce any penetration.

Daniel Buser found himself well placed close to goal in the ninth minute but took far too long over his shot and the danger was cleared.

More pressure resulted in their first penalty corner in the 16th minute but Steven Arbuthnot shot straight at the Service keeper and two minutes later their second set piece was totally wasted when the ball was not stopped properly

Philip Stirling had a reasonable shot saved in the 20th minute as Garvey tried hard to put together an open goal scoring opportunity and eventually, in the 22nd minute, Andy Forrest worked his way along the bye line before giving himself space and time to shoot into the corner of the net.

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James Lorimer made his debut for Garvey in the 28th minute. Fresh from Mossley, the 17 year old started in midfield but later moved to the defence, looking comfortable in both positions.

Civil Service got into the game in the 29th minute with their first penalty corner but in the absence of ace taker, Chris Barnes, their effort was well struck by Aaron Gill who hit the ball with power through Garvey keeper John Tormey and the goal left the first half tied at 1-1.

The second half was even more inactive with Peter MacDonnell providing an early moment of danger but in the end shooting at the Service defender and the ball was cleared without much difficulty.

The 43rd minute turned out to be the crucial event of the game when a ball was driven into the Civil Service circle and it came off, first the defender and then the goalkeeper before being registered as an own goal, a new rule just introduced this season.

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Richard Arneill got himself a yellow card in the 45th minute and seconds later the visitors engineered a half chance but the effort was smothered by captain Jonny Bell who was beginning to doubt his team,s ability to score another goal in a poor quality game.

Garvey forced their third penalty corner in the 60th minute but again they could not provide the finishing touch as Greg Thompson flicked straight at the keeper and a minute later James Dowling had the chance to link up with Andy Forrest when space was created on the right but again the last pass went adrift.

The 66th minute saw Garvey ‘s last chance to score from play wasted and in the 69th their fourth and last penalty corner of the game was again unrewarded as the Service keeper made a save from Forrest and the easily forgotten match ended with Garvey far from satisfied but recording a vital 2-1 victory.