Football: Ten man Tobermore United defeated by PSNI

That said the police probably deserved their victory but poor decisions by the officials certainly helped them to their third win of the season over the South Derry men.

The visitors had the strong wind in their backs in the first half but it had no bearing on the first goal that arrived with only two minutes on the clock courtesy of a hotly disputed spot kick when the referee mysteriously punished Gary Donaldson for an offence inside the box.

Lukasz Adamczyk didn’t let the lengthy protests disturb his concentration and he slotted the ball past Paul Wells to put the PSNI ahead and 15 minutes later the same player doubled the lead, again under a storm of protests from the home side.

This time it was because the officials chose to ignore a clear hand ball in the build up as the big forward stormed in on goal and as Tobermore waited on the whistle Adamczyk stuck the ball into the net for number two.

The visitors continued to use the wind to their advantage for the remainder of the half without really looking like adding to their tally.

Much of the second half belonged to Tobermore but again they rarely threatened Matthew Quinn’s goals except for a couple of free kicks that shaved his posts.

In a rare second half attack the visitors should have added a third but a combination of hitting a post and cross bar the chance was missed.

The referee continued to flash his yellow card and it was no surprise that a red eventually appeared when Tobermore’s Daryl McGee was punished for a reckless tackle in the closing stages.

Tobermore will understandably complain about the two goals but the visitors just about deserved the spoils

Tobermore Utd: P Wells, A Graham, D McGee, G Donaldson, C McKenna, B Anderson, D Stewart, C Donaldson, T Parkhill, G McLaughlin. G Clarke. Subs: M Harkness, M Brown, S Heneghan, R Winton. J McGahan.

Upcoming fixtures: Saturday March 22nd v Armagh City (away), 3pm; Saturday March 29th V Sport & Leisure (home) 3pm.

Tobermore’s popular Mini Soccer sessions continue this Saturday at Maghera Leisure Centre. The one hour session start at 10am sharp and finished at 11am.

The fun sessions are supervised by IFA accredited coaches and are open to all boys and girls of primary school age and everyone is welcome.