Neville inspires comeback against South Antrim

Their patience soon paid off as mid way through the first half, a shot was saved by Bann keeper Bingham but the rebound was pounced on by an Antrim forward to make the score 1-0.

Slowly but surely after this, Bann started to create chances down the left with some neat work between Robert Scott, David Armstrong and Dave Smyth, but to no avail.

Banbridge shifted up a gear in the second half with the introduction on Bill Malcolmson - the play was now being switched left to right from Matthews and Woods and vice versa in an attempt to break Antrim’s experienced defence.

However, against the run of play, an Antrim forward found himself in space from a quick counter attack, and smashed the ball past a stranded Bingham.

A third goal quickly followed with 15 minutes to go.

Bann’s luck soon changed as a short corner was awarded after an Antrim foot inside the circle. This corner was converted by Clarke Neville via a straight drag flick from the top of the circle.

This goal spurred life into the Banbridge team, and a second goal soon followed.

A superb run from Malcolmson found him at the top of the D - he then dispatched an excellent reverse stick shot into the bottom right corner to make the score 3-2 with 10 minutes left on the clock.

Both teams were now pushing for a result - an unexpected wave of attacks from Antrim left the Bann side unsettled, but excellent defending from Ferguson, McCoy and forward Matthew Clarke prevented the decisive goal.

Banbridge then countered from this and a nice piece of skill from Warnock won a short corner. In a similar fashion to the first, the ball was dispatched low past the Antrim keeper by Neville to level the score.

Unfortunately, the Banbridge side ran out of time to find the winner and had to settle for the 3-3 draw, a great result considering the three goal deficit at one point during the game.