NAFL Division 1B
Ballynahinch United 1-3 Aquinas
AQUINAS banked another three points in testing conditions on Saturday as they heaped further pressure on Ballynahinch United, but were forced to come from behind to do so.
The home side played three forwards: Jack Patterson, Matthew Shaw and Gregg Allison with the simple plan of playing the ball behind the visitors' defence and scrapping for possession.
In the first half, Ballynahinch coped much better than Aquinas and took a deserved lead into half-time. In fact, they could have gone in three up if they had taken all their chances.
In the second half, however, the home team were unable to contain the visitors as Garrett Cullen led his Aquinas team to victory, grabbing two goals and the glory in a second half comeback neither side will forget.
From the kick-off it was clear that the hosts had opted to play route one football.
With Shaw and Allison making runs in behind James McKee, Mark Cummings and Ben Leonard the Aquinas goal was exposed to several threats early in the half.
In the middle of the pitch, Aquinas tried to play their passing game and at times they looked threatening.
Eamon Black, starting for the first time this season, looked a big threat to Ballynahinch on the left flank. His attacking runs and distribution tested the home side's defence several times. He linked well with Cullen in the middle of the park 10 minutes into the game and played a quick series of passes with Sean Wilson to get in behind centre back Matthew Hall who was forced to close him down.
Black whipped in a great ball but no one got the final touch as it fizzed past the goal. Paddy Lowe chested the ball down as it went beyond the back post but his shot went wide.
Ramsey equalises 
The early stages produced few clear chances in a very even hard-fought battle. At times it looked more like a rugby match with players slipping and sliding into big tackles.
When the Aquinas goalkeeper Jack McCrea found himself one-on-one with Allison, but it was McCrea who gathered it into his arms as Allison crashed into him on the ground. The striker was fairly committed to the challenge and once he saw that McCrea had dropped the ball, he was up over the top of the 'keeper attempting to score, but McCrea pushed the ball towards McKee who hoofed it clear.
Wilson went on the counter attack from the clearance and he too went one-on-one with Michael Viadeanu in the Ballynahinch goal. The striker chose to shot early and his effort also went just wide of the post.
Despite looking the more likely to score, Aquinas were lucky not to go in at half-time with a humiliating score.
The visitors looked composed at the back for most of the half but as the clock ticked down to the half, a series of errors caused problems.
Jordan Patterson pushed up and with centre back Hall also pushing up, the middle of the pitch became congested and Aquinas were getting no joy going forward. Their opponents simply by-passed the midfield and played direct.
When Allison cut across McKee in the 37th minute, a loose ball deflected into his path. The striker had the goal at his mercy from six yards but McCrea made a critical save to his right.
Allison did not have to wait long to get another chance. From the subsequent corner, he made it 1-0 when he headed in at the back post.
When Black was pushed over on the edge of the United box, it looked like Martin Ramsey might cheer up the miserable travelling support but he shot wide of the post.
United went straight on the attack from the goalkeeper's kick. In the melee on the edge of the Aquinas box, Matthew Shaw unorthodoxly flicked the ball out of the mud using the outside of his boot. As players struggled to stay up, Shaw had managed to force the ball between them and again Allison had only McCrea to beat. To the dismay of his team-mates, the striker drove the ball over the crossbar.
Despite having more of the ball in the first half, Aquinas had failed to be as effective as the home side going forward, but the second half was completely different.
Jack Patterson, who had been playing on the left of the front three, was replaced by Conor Graham who went straight into midfield to pick up Cullen. It was a good call from head coach Kyle Rendall to spot the threat but the change had no impact at all. Cullen was immense in the half and deservedly won the Botanic Inn Man-of-the-Match award.
Aquinas attacked relentlessly in the half and Martin Ramsey went close five minutes into it, but the striker's crisp shot was blocked just inside the area.
Three minutes, later United failed to get close to Ramsey who headed in the equaliser from a ball whipped in from the left by his strike partner Sean Wilson.
Aquinas almost took the lead moments later when Wilson narrowly missed with a free-kick outside the box. All the pressure was on Ballynahinch now. They were losing the game in the middle of the pitch where Niall Atkinson, Dan McDonald and Cullen were first to everything. When they were on the ball, they were clinical in their distribution on an awful surface.
Cullen heads home number 3
Not only were Aquinas more aggressive going to the ball, but they were also finding Lowe, Ramsey and Wilson with early balls into the channels.
Harry Bell, who had pushed forward in Ballynahinch's half-time changes, was replaced by Taylor Graham as the hosts attempted to get back into the game, but immediately the opposite happened.
In the 63rd minute, several Aquinas players had scrappy chances and when the home team failed to clear their lines, the ball was again whipped in from the wing. Martin Ramsey held off Hall and shielded the way for Cullen to produce a quality strike and put his side in the lead. Once the second goal went in there seemed to be no way back for United.
Having gone 2-1 down it looked possible that Aquinas could go on to score a few more and Cullen did just before the 80th minute as he rose highest in the box to head in number three and seal the victory.
It could have been a much heavier defeat in the end if it were not for the United goalkeeper Viadeanu. Although Wilson went around him, he managed to get a touch on the ball and forced a corner in the 85th minute. He also denied Ramsey a second right at the end, saving at the striker's feet.
It would have been easy for any team to slip up away at Ballynahinch on Saturday. The home side played the pitch the right way and almost produced the perfect first half.
To their credit, Aquinas adopted their game and were first to everything in the second half. It was a great team performance with Cullen, Atkinson and McDonald right in the middle of it.
