Southside Youths begin with a point

Both these teams had not only won their respective leagues last year but completed them unbeaten.

Right from the kick off the game swung from end to end with both teams having several chances inside the first 10 minutes. Southside looked threatening in every attack and from a corner on 15 minutes the deadlock was broken. Leon Bonnes turned on the ball to fire home after Ardoyne failed to clear. 1-0.

The jubilation was short lived when Ardoyne equalised on 26 minutes with a well struck shot just outside the Southside box. 1-1. Lewis Erwin in the Southside goal was busy keeping the home side at bay as they piled on the pressure.

As the half time interval approached an Ardoyne midfielder tried his luck from distance and although the ball appeared to sail wide the referee awarded the home side a goal.

The referee pointed out that there was a hole in the net of the Southside goal and he believed the ball had went right through it. The obvious debate that followed served no purpose and the half ended with Ardoyne leading 2-1.

The trademark sharp one touch passing of Southside lead to the equaliser on 45 minutes when Ryan Corrigan was released on the left and finished neatly to make it 2-2.

A sustained period of attack by Ardoyne in the 8 minutes of added time the referee found somewhere saw the boys stand tall and fight to earn a well deserved point in this excellent game of football. Watch the club website for details www.southsideyouthsfc.co.uk

Squad : Erwin , Allen , Logan(C) , Livingstone , McCready , Graham , Nixon , Bonnes , Calderwood , Corrigan , McNiece , Kirk , J.Stewart , McDowell , Henry , R.Stewart