Youthful South bounce back with win

SOUTH bounced back from the relative disappointment of the past two weeks by recording a deserved 3-1 victory over QUB last Saturday, a result which keeps alive their promotion dream.

Ironically, the South side with only three players aged 21 or over in their starting XI, was younger than the university side and this youthful exuberance of the hosts came to fruition once again.

The match began brightly for the Lisburn based outfit with skipper Lee Marshall coming close to breaking the deadlock after 10 minutes. A Ricky O’Neill drag flick which was competently dealt with by the Queen’s ‘keeper, fell to Marshall who could only watch his shot ricochet off the post.

Despite the early dominance, it was a match which South did not have all their own way. Indeed, it was Queen’s who took the lead within 15 minutes after a cross from the left fell to a lingering centre forward who duly converted. The remainder of the half fizzled out, with chances at a premium for hosts and visitors alike.

The second half began with South evidently fired up from a half time verbal bashing from Coach John Massey and it wasn’t long before the men in black drew level. Adam Marshall committed Queen’s defender after Queen’s defender with a powerful surging run, before laying the ball off to his older brother Lee. Adam Glass applied a deft touch to the crashed ball from Marshall Senior which caught the Queen’s ‘keeper off guard and squirmed its way into the net.

Seven minutes later, the hosts finally got their noses in front. The talismanic John Semple, embarked on a tantalising dribble which has typified his play all season, before crossing for Adam Glass to slap home from the top of the circle.

Queen’s refused to be downhearted by this, with their captain - Tom Harris - rallying his troops. The game started to become heated and the hosts soon saw Lee Marshall, Ricky O’Neill and Ian Glass all carded and hence Queen’s had a temporary three man advantage.

The now makeshift South back four, however, remained resolute with Jack Redpath really coming of age and the boys survived this barrage of pressure.

With three minutes left on the clock, Adam Glass completed his hat trick and secured victory for the hosts to get their promotion push back on track.

South now have a weekend off but will face Bangor on March 9 at Laurelhill (2.30pm push back). All support would be appreciated.