YCOB suffer another league defeat

TOLLYMORE UNITED 3

It was a disappointing weekend for Banbridge YCOB as they went down 3-0 at home to Tollymore United and their survival bid took another blow.

The Old Boys started brightly but struggled to force the Tollymore keeper into any meaningful action. Paddy Kennedy headed narrowly wide from a corner and soon after both Ruairi McGrath and Paul Murphy were denied during a goalmouth scramble.

The tide turned midway through the first half with Tollymore gaining the upper hand. Bann came under some sustained pressure but weathered the storm. A Banbridge corner five minutes before half-time led to them over-committing men forward and a speedy break by the away side saw Mark Bradman forced into a fine save but Tollymore reached the loose ball first to open the scoring from the rebound.

The second-half was more open with both sides creating decent chances. The Tollymore keeper saved a solid Cathal Matthews strike acrobatically and then Murphy could only direct a Kennedy knockdown straight at the keeper from a Bann corner. The away side had Bradman working hard on several occasions. An unnecessary foul after 70 minutes was knocked up to the away striker who got past two Banbridge defenders in the penalty area far too easily to hammer home his second goal. Disappointingly a few Bann heads dropped and a Tollymore break down the left was crossed to the back post for an easy third.

The Old Boys will need to be more disciplined in defence and ruthless in front of goal if they are to get the points needed to stay in Division Two this season. Best for Bann on the day was the hard working Cathal Matthews.

YCOB: Bradman, Quinn, McGrath, Kennedy, Bignell, Lyness, McCreanor, Loughlin, Peters, Matthews, Murphy (Cunningham 75).