Riverside go clear at the top

Their win at home to Macosquin Village coupled with Glebe Rangers Old Boys' draw against Hazelbank means they are now two points clear at the top of the table. There was a couple of shocks at the weekend with The Taverners taking the points away to much-fancied Berthas FC while winless FC Macosquin comfortably seen off the challenge of inform Ballyrashane FC. Somerset recorded the biggest win of the day as they hit Coleraine Olympic for 14 goals without reply while Villagers bounced back from two straight defeats by knocking six goals past Brook Street. Finn McCools' good start to the season continued by beating Dunaghy Old Boys by the odd goal in seven. There was a hard fought one all draw recorded at Rugby Avenue between Mountview and Balnamore while Hillview came from 3-0 down to grab a point against West Bann Athletic. The next delegates' meeting will be held on Monday 4 October. Managers are reminded that this meeting will be the last opportunity to register new players until January 2011. Riverside Athletic 2 Macosquin Village 0 Before play began both teams observed a minute's silence in memory of Riverside sponsor Victor Gilmore of GL Construction, who tragically lost his life as a result of an accident while competing at the Kilalane road races the previous weekend. When play commenced it was the visitors who had the better of the first 20 minutes and it looked only a matter of time before they scored. After losing McNabb to an early injury Riverside shuffled the pack at bit with Coyles moving into the centre of the defence where his partnership with Blair supplied the required steel to keep the rampant visitors at bay. Riverside eventually started to get to grips with the game and had a great chance when Hanna cut in from the left and unleashed a fine effort which the excellent Doey in the visitors goal did well to turn round the upright. The second half started with Riverside making a couple of changes with Connelly and McGoldrick moving to the wings where their pace drove their team forward, and Hanna playing up top with Moore. The changes paid off when Smylie's ball from midfield played in Hanna who rounded Doey for 1 - 0. Despite the home team's small cushion of comfort Macosquin were still well in the game and extremely dangerous on the attack, with stand in keeper McLean in the home goal to called into service on more than one occasion to keep the score as it was. With 15 minutes to go a quick break from Riverside saw Hanna fire the ball across the Macosquin penalty box for McGoldrick to side foot past Doey and 2 - 0. Credit to the visitors as they never gave up and pressed right to the final whistle but could not get the breakthrough that their adventurous play deserved. Riverside Athletic would like to add final thank you to Macosquin Village, all their supporters and the referee for the immaculate observation of the minute's silence. Man of the match: Chris Blair (Riverside Athletic) Glebe Rangers Old Boys 3 Hazelbank FC 3 Glebe faced their biggest game of the season to date when they took on last year's double winners Hazelbank FC. They took the lead midway through the half when Chris Holmes rattled home from close range. This lead didn't last very long as James Diver brought his team on level terms after running onto Davy Feeney's slack back pass. Glebe started the second half the stronger and took the lead again when Alan McBride got his third of the season. Hazelbank hit back soon after when McClarty, who had just came off the bench, scored. The Ballymoney men got their noses back in front with Holmes grabbing his second of the match and they could have been out of site had Sticky Steele taken a few of the numerous chances he was afforded. He didn't and the Glebe dropped their first points of the season when Ciaran Wilson got the last touch in a goal mouth scramble right at the death to give his team a share of the spoils, despite having played the remaining minutes of the game with 10 men. Man of the Match: David Patterson (Glebe Rangers Old Boys) West Bann Athletic 3 Hillview FC 3 Both sides started brightly adapting well to the horrible weather conditions. West Bann Athletic opened the scoring when a through ball from Doherty slid past the goalkeeper and left a simple finish for the in form Lee Biggart who made no mistake. West Bann Athletic kept the pressure on in search of a second goal but couldn't find the back of the net. Hillview also had their chances but couldn't finish any of them. West Bann Athletic increased their lead just before half time when a free kick was drifted in and Martin Pancott rose highest and nodded the ball in to make it 2-0 West Bann Athletic at half time. WBA came out looking to extend their lead but couldn't get the goal they were looking for. Hillview started to create chances and were looking the team more likely to get the next goal. However West Bann Athletic made it 3-0 when the ball broke to Colin Diamond near the half way line he hammered the ball and the ball flew into the top corner of the net. 3-0. This should have been game over and West Bann Athletic should have seen the game out and took 3 points however Hillview had other ideas. Mark Hutchinson who had been lucky too stay on the pitch after a couple of rash challenges got Hillview back in the game when he finished well on 70 minutes to make it 3-1. Athletic were hit by a sucker punch 2 minutes later when a penalty was awarded which Hutchinson put away. Hillview then completed the comeback in the 82 minute when Gary Johnston got on the end of a corner to make it 3-3, snatching a point on the day. Man of the match: Lee Biggart (West Bann Athletic) Brook Street 0 The Villagers 6 Both teams went into this game needing a win. The Villagers started the brightest with some good passing creating a few chances. Jamie Dunn scored The Villagers first from a corner while McFarlane bagged his teams second just before half time. He then grabbed his second just after the second half began before Ricky Pollock made it four when he rounded the keeper twice to score. Making his debut was Lee Wilson and he got his team's fifth when he headed home a McFarlane cross. Player manager Rab Friel came off the bench to finish off the scoring for the day with his teams sixth goal to cap off a good team performance. Man of the Match: David Pollock (The Villagers) Berthas FC 0 The Taverners 2 Both teams were looking to bounce back from defeats last week in this one with The Taverners able to call on last week's missing quintet. It was a funny old game in the end for the home side as they enjoyed the majority possession in both halves but struggled to create in front of goal with half chances for Greene, McGarvey and D. Patterson all they had to show for their first half efforts. The Taverners however dug in and hit the home side on the counter on numerous occasions with pace and numbers and they got their reward when Elder nipped in front of the home keeper to head home Adam's cross. The second half was a repeat of the first with the hard working Taverners frustrating Berthas time after time with Shields and Elder in good form in the midfield while Kinnaird and Graham rolled back the years to put in excellent performances at the back. Berthas pushed harder in the last 20 minutes but Kinnaird saved C. Patterson's header while Graham made an excellent last ditch tackle as Stewart wound up to shoot. As the home team pressed The Taverners got their second with only minutes left on the clock when Shields found Thompson and the wee man advanced on goal to coolly slide the ball past McClarty. Berthas never gave up but it wasn't to be on the day and The Taverners were delighted to pick up the three points. Man of the Match: Zane Adams (The Taverners) Ballyrashane FC 1 FC Macosquin 5 Anyone who has ever watched the film Wedding Crashers would be well familiar of the tale of two cheeky rogues who gatecrash weddings and take advantage of the feel good factor surrounding such events. On Saturday in Ballysally we had the actors Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson substituted with Declan McGahon and Thomas Campbell who were determined to put an end to the excellent run of form that Ballyrashane had shown this season. There was definitely a feel good factor to this match with quite a large crowd in attendance and quite a few wannabe wags standing by the touchline. The game got off to a frantic start and Ballyrashane were quite unlucky to fall behind to an own goal, which they were always struggling to recover from. As Ballyrashane pushed hard for an equaliser they left themselves exposed at the back and soon after the first goal Declan McGahon scored the second for Macosquin. At 2-0 up Stephen McLaughlin for Macosquin started to pull the strings in the Macosquin midfield and they soon added to their lead in the second half when McGahon once more found himself in free space and slotted home well. Ballyrashane never once lay down and their hard work paid off when David Freeman scored an excellent goal after bursting through the Macosquin defence. Macosquin were however not going to surrender another lead again this season and continued to score when Thomas Campbell ran the length of the pitch to score number four and to end the party Declan McGahon scored his fifth for Macosquin and his second hat trick of the season. Macosquin finished the game with 10 men after Thomas Campbell was given his marching orders. Macosquin however held on for a well deserved win and after coming so close in previous matches to taking all three points finally start to move up the table. Man of the match: Declan McGahon (FC Macosquin) Finn McCools 4 Dunaghy Old Boys 3 First half the game was end-to-end football. Finns scored first from the unlikely source of goalkeeper McQuiston when his long punt up field ended up beating Dunaghy's keeper. Dunaghy responded when their left-winger beat Finns defender before coolly slotting it into the bottom corner. Both teams had chances but Finns went ahead again when Kane made no mistake from close range. Before half time Finns made it three when Parke put through debutant Dobbin who finished well. The second half was similar to the first although it was Dunaghy who looked the hungrier to score. This paid off when they broke through the Finn's defence and scored. Dunaghy made it three all when their winger copied his first goal. Dunaghy put more pressure on Finns and were rewarded with a penalty. Blair stepped up but drilled his penalty well over the bar. This gave Finns the will to go on and win the game with five minutes to go they got the winner when a long ball was whipped in from the left to Dobbin who headed across goal to find Johny Parke who fired home from three yards. Man of the Match: Johny Parke (Finn McCools) Mountview 1 Balnamore 1 This match was always going to be a tight encounter, as both teams haven't had a great start to the season. Balnamore kicked the match off and it wasn't long before they found themselves a goal to the good. Barr beating the offside trap, his shot giving the Mountview keeper no chance. Not long after, Mountview had a great chance to equalise when Harte was clean though on goal, but his shot went just wide of the post. Mountview continued to press but couldn't beat Madison who was in good form in the Balnamore goal. In the second half Balnamore passed the ball around well always seeming to have an extra man in the middle, but Mountview worked hard to regain possession and on the hour mark Smyth's cross found Archibald in the middle to head in his second goal in two games. Mountview continued to press forward, but again couldn't find the back of the net. Balnamore had a chance to win the match on 80 minutes when Hogg's volley from six yards was tipped onto the crossbar by McLaughlin in the Mountview goal. The game became more open as both teams pushed men forward to try and find a winner but they ran out of time and the match ended as a draw. Man of the Match: Ryan Mooney (Balnamore) Somerset 14 Coleraine Olympic 0 Last year in this fixture Somerset hit Olympic for 15 and they nearly repeated the feat this year again, coming just short by one goal. Gary Millar scored a whopping eigth goals in that game and he also nearly repeated that tally, banging in seven in total in this one. Gary Knight wasn't to be outdone by his strike partner though as he to hit six goals in this one sided romp. Man of the Match: Gary Knight (Somerset)