by Logan Marsh

The Verri Industries Douglas United Dragons match against Southside was abandoned on Sunday evening following torrential rain that made the pitch unplayable just before the hour mark.

The decision was made just after the Southside had taken a 2-0 lead. As yet it remains to be seen what will happen with the game. As it stands Southside have been awarded the points although Douglas are pushing for the match to be replayed.

If the match is replayed the Dragons will have to produce a much improved performance against a very young and quick Fury side.

The Dragons could have been behind after as little as five seconds in the match as Southside waltzed through some paper thin Douglas defence before shooting just wide.

It should have served as a warning to the players, yet still they did not settle allowing Southside the freedom of Fretwell Park to run at the defence and cause problems.

The opposition were particularly threatening down their left hand side with Jack Miller receiving a torrid working over at right back.

It was the Southside left sided player who finally made the dominance tell, sliding in at the far post to convert after he had been played onside by the Dragons defence.

And it was only poor finishing the kept the score at 1-0 going into the half time break. Considering how poor the Dragons had been they were not without chances of their own.

Matty Smith could quite easily have had two penalties but seemed to pay the price yet again for trying to stay on his feet until he has his legs taken out from under him by which time the referees seem to think he has taken a dive while Ian Marsh had a good chance with a header that went wide.

Some stern words at the break resulted in the Dragons coming out with more intent in the second half, passing the ball a little better than in the first period. Still they were being caused problems by the pace of the opposition attacks.

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With the rain worsening and the prospect of the game being abandoned, the Dragons' defence went to sleep as a ball that was heading wide of the goal stopped in a puddle and was forced home by a Southside player to make the score 2-0.

Moments later, as a Douglas player slipped and hurt himself the referee consulted the two captains and the game was abandoned. It remains to be seen whether it is a reprieve for the Dragons who will be hoping for a chance to atone for the inept sixty odd minutes of football.

With the next four fixtures against teams that are likely to figure heavily in the top four reckoning there needs to be a massive improvement in effort and particularly attitude to ensure that the team remains competitive so that the Dragons themselves are pushing to play finals football at the business end of the season.