442 TEAMWEAR DAWFL PREMIER DIVISION
NORTH Down played hosts to leaders Castle Juniors knowing that a win would put them firmly in the hunt for the title.
Castle had won the two previous encounters, but were pushed all the way in the most recent of those, so if North Down were to keep their title aspirations alive, they needed to do something they hadn’t done all season, which was to beat the leaders.
With so much at stake I expected this one to be another tight and thrilling encounter, and it was proving that way after the first half when a Hannah effort gave the home team a slender advantage. Castle knew they’d need to strike next to get back into this one, and it came around 10 minutes into the second period as Ferguson levelled things off at 1-1 and game on.
The momentum was now with the away team, and just over five minutes later they were in front as Ferguson bagged his and Castle’s second of the game to make it 2-1, with North Down’s challenge looking like coming to an end. That remained the scoreline until the final 10 minutes, when two quickfire goals, one from Robinson and another from Hay, saw Castle remove any doubt about this one as they claimed a 4-1 win to extend their lead over their hosts to 12 points.
With Castle having the far superior goal difference, that defeat effectively ends North Down’s title challenge for another season.
So, the only team that can catch Castle now is Newtownards RBL and this week saw them away to Cooke Athletic. With RBL unbeaten in all DAWFL competitions since September, they’d have been regarded as firm favourites in this one and they duly took the lead around the quarter-hour mark as McLean opened the scoring.
Adams made it two a few minutes later to put Legion in control at the break and Cooke found themselves 3-0 down within 10 minutes of the restart as Adams bagged his second of the game. Adair then added number four, but goals from Forrester and Townsend closed the gap to 4-2 to leave a nervous ending to this one.
Newtownards RBL sit 11 points behind the leaders, but with five games in hand, the title is very much within their sights.
