Watt winner helps South cruise into semis with a game to spare

Having gained promotion from Senior Two last season, Portrush were a relatively unknown quantity for South who knew they would have to tread carefully to avoid a potential banana skin.

It was Portrush who struck first blood after a cagey first 10 minutes, when a rather fortuitous effort, their only shot of the game, crept its way under Mark Hutchinson in the South goal.

With a one goal advantage, it was quite evident to spectators and South players alike that Portrush were prepared to camp on the edge of their circle in an attempt to protect the lead they now had.

As a result, South struggled to gain a proper sight of goal from open play in the first half but skilful stick work from Simon Watt, Chris Henry and Paul Maguire in attack won a number of short corners for the hosts.

With Adam Glass missing due to a recently dislocated finger, South’s short corner routines were relatively poor. The Lisburn side did, however, manage to draw level with their fourth short of the half when Simon Watt reacted quickest to poke the ball home after a Patric Cochrane drag flick was only partially dealt with by the Portrush keeper.

South thought they had the lead soon after, when a classic counter attack down the right resulted in the ball landing to Paul Maguire but he could only watch as his effort smashed onto the cross bar.

The second half was virtually a carbon copy of the first. Portrush struggled to get out of their half whilst South attempted to concoct a winning goal from their flurry of short corners.

Midway through the second half, the hosts did just that when a crisp routine ended with Simon Watt firing the ball into the bottom corner past the hapless keeper. South could, and should, have been out of sight when Ward Phillips found himself at the top of the D along with Paul Maguire in a two-on-one situation against the keeper but rather than passing, he opted to shoot himself.

Overall, South will be content with the win which seals their progression to the semi-finals of the competition.

However, they will rue the number of chances, particularly short corners, which were squandered and this will be the focus for improvement in the coming weeks. The Firsts have a week off before they play Portadown at Edenvilla Park on 11 October in their concluding group game.

Many thanks to Phillips Volkwagen for their continued support.