Saintfield United 3rds travelled to Carryduff on Saturday to try and cause a cup upset, but it wasn’t to be as the premier division Carryduff Athletic showed just how big the gap is between the 3 divisions.
The match started badly for the Saints as they conceded a goal in the first minute via a header in the 6 yard box from a free kick. That wasn’t what the Saints had wanted and was the worst start they have had so far this season. However the visitors were soon back on level terms as they showed how dangerous their attack can be after 3 minutes. Michael Stoneman fed Chris Orr and as he powered past one defender he sent a rasping left foot drive low and hard into the bottom corner of the Athletic net.
For the next ten minutes it was hard to tell who was the premier team as both sides battled hard and had chances to go ahead, the Saints were left feeling hard done by when they had a very strong penalty appeal waved away.
But after 18 minutes the game took a turn in Athletics favour as they pounced on a Saints mistake and made it 2-1. It was 3-1 soon after as another mistake from the Saints was punished by the Premier division team as they showed how clinical they could be. The Saints were ragged to say the least at this stage and Athletic took advantage, adding another 3 goals before the end of the half.
The Saints did regroup at half time and came out more buoyant at the start of the second half, but it was short lived as further mistakes were gleefully punished by Athletic. With the home team adding 3 more goals in the second half.
It was a taste of the level the Saints will one day want to be at, but for now it was just one step too far.
