Swifts show good spirit but lose

Rathfriland Swifts 3

ON Saturday Rathfriland Swifts travelled the longest journey of their league calendar with a trip to well placed Ardmore Rovers.

With more than half the panel comprising of third team players this was a gallant effort by the much changed Swifts team. They defended well for the first half hour with Robert Strain making a fantastic point blank one handed save to keep the score at 0–0.

On 32 minutes the home side broke from deep in their own half to score the opener with a second coming just before the break although Rathfriland went close with a Mark Milligan free kick and a Micky Morgan shot.

In the early stages of the second period the visitors conceded two more but they pulled one back to make it 4–1 when Niall Maginn’s corner was clipped into the net by Joe Maginn.

Niall Maginn then hit the post with a penalty but the introduction of the three substitutes helped further reduce the deficit. Young Andrew Monaghan pulled a goal back with a great run and strike to make it 4-2 but the referee’s indecision allowed play to go the other end with the home side scoring a fifth.

Again Rathfriland kept plugging away and pulled another back through young Andrew Monaghan. Further debatable refereeing probably haltered the Swifts’ chances of further goals but in the end they showed plenty of spirit but just not enough to overcome a decent Ardmore Rovers side.