Press Release - 06/01/1997
East Antrim Hockey Club
06 January 1997
For further information, contact:
Stephen Swann
Press Release Officer - East Antrim Hockey Club
34 Carnmoney Road, Newtownabbey, BT36 6HP
078 0316 7731
stephen@eastantrim.co.uk
EAST ANTRIM V PARKVIEW
An entertaining local derby match between league leaders, East Antrim 2nd XI and their rivals from Doagh, Parkview, took place at the Valley Leisure Centre on Saturday. A 100% points haul at home for the Glengormley men was on the line, but the home spectators needn't have feared for the safety of the record.
East Antrim began the match in relatively relaxed form - Ivan McStea, Gary Hooks and John Baker in the home defence had little to do in the opening period. Brian Reid, now established as the 2nd XI sweeper, found himself in advanced positions as the visiting team struggled to maintain any sort of possession of the ball.
The two youngsters in midfield for East Antrim saw plenty of action - Adam McDonald was receiving very close attention from his opposite number, whilst David Kerr was the player who came closest to scoring early on. Indeed it was these two players that were involved in what became the only goal of the game. Good work from McDonald in the inside right channel resulted in Kerr scoring from the edge of the penalty circle.
The pressure on the Parkview goal became relentless as Richard McCullough and Tim Kay wasted good chances. The 1-0 scoreline at half-time, though, was not enough for team captain, Robert Gibson, as he felt that another goal would relieve the tension of a precarious situation.
The second half began with a change in personnel for East Antrim with David Haggan and George Armstrong being introduced to the game, which was played in the Parkview half of the pitch for long periods. Indeed the visiting team's defensive tactics became more determined as the game went on. The consequence was a player from each team being removed from the field of play after receiving yellow cards.
Stephen Duffin and Kerr both had glorious chances to extend East Antrim's lead with Duffin shooting wide from just 3 yards. Another Duffin effort was palmed away by a Parkview keeper who was obviously on form. Gibson, suffering from influenza, brought himself into the fray and with his first touch screamed a shot across the face of the goal.
As the final minutes approached it was clear that the home team seemed to be suffering from some nerves as Parkview managed to force a penalty corner and gain some possession in the middle of the park. The late flurry of activity from the visiting team was to no avail as East Antrim maintained their impressive home record.
Gibson said afterwards "That was a tough one. We have had more work to do in defence against other teams, but we haven't had to work as hard to score a goal for a long time. But it puts us 7 points clear of Civil Service so winning the league title is in our own hands now."
East Antrim 1 Parkview 0
East Antrim : J Hamill, B Reid, G Hooks, I McStea, J Baker, Adam McDonald, S Duffin, D Kerr, R McCullough, C Black, T Kay, D Haggan, G Armstrong, R Gibson
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