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Four star Swifts through to next round in Foster Cup

Wednesday, 3 February 2010

Annagh utd reserves 1 Rathfriland swifts 4
RATHFRLAND Swifts travelled to Annagh United reserves in the first round of the Foster Cup and after a good game of football the visitors came away with a trip to the second round of the competition with a 4-1 win at the Portadown venue.
Rathfriland took a few minutes to get into their stride and when they did, they played some decent football and took their chances to go in at the break 3-1 up.
The vistors used the flanks very well, and in particular the right hand side, with Matthew Moffat and Mark Milligan getting plenty of the ball.
It was from one such move that Rathfriland took the lead with Milligan setting up Philip Johnston who took aim and fired into the top corner from 20 yards to make it 1-0.
The Swifts began to play with more assurance and they had further chances to go further ahead with William Morrison going narrowly close with a downward header and Niall Maginn and Phlip Waddle both having shots charged down.
Midway through the first half it was 2-0 when Mark Milligan's approach play took him through to the edge of the box and he fired a low shot into the bottom corner.
Annagh threatened from time to time more so from dead ball situations and it was from a free kick in the middle of the park that they floated a ball into the box with the number nine heading into the net to make it 2-1.
Rathfriland kept their approach and did not let the goal disrupt them when from a short corner the ball was played to Lee McDowell who fired a low 20 yard shot and with the aid of a small deflection the ball nestled in the bottom corner to give them a half time lead of 3-1.
The second half took a lttle bit longer for both teams to settle but Rathfriland soon found their passing game and began to play some neat football again with Chris Frazer hustling and bustling up front.
Milligan again was blocked as he pulled the trigger again after brilliant combination play with Moffat while Annagh also sent a low shot just wide of the post with Strain doing really well to narrow the angle.
Joe Maginn and Morrison kept things tight in the middle of the defence but the Swifts' offensive play continued with great work down the right again, allowing the ball to be centred but Frazer's clever dummy to Niall Maginn was blocked. Maginn did make it 4-1 when he found himself completely in the clear to fire the ball high into the net to kill the game off.
Overall a good steady performance from the Swifts, who maybe have not been getting just reward for their performances lately. The attitude and teamwork was really good and this combined with some really good football at times made sure that they got the reward of a passage to the second round of this competition.
Team: Robert Strain, Mattew Moffat, Lee McDowell, William Morrison, Joe Maginn, Philip Waddle, Niall Maginn, David Gilmore, Philip Johnston, Chris Frazer, and Mark Milligan.
Subs: Liam McGivern, Stevie Morton, and David Morton.

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