Down switched this game to Friday night at the Comber Leisure Centre and the cold, damp weather mirrored the home side's performance.

Parkview weren't that much better but they took their chances when they arose and the end of the season can't come quickly enough for the Malone Park men who have one more game left against Portrush.

Driving rain, punctuated by the odd flurry of snow, meant the conditions were far from ideal for fast flowing hockey.

And to compound the misery of the few hearty souls who made the trip to Comber, the dugouts at the side of the pitch couldn't be accessed to make the most of what little shelter they would have provided.

The home side once again  could only muster the bare eleven with Mark Graham forced to play at the back alongside skipper Jeremy McCready, David Ferris and James Erskine.

Gavin Ringland did his best to get his side going in the middle of the park, but it proved a difficult task while veteran striker Cecil Telford was asked to lead the attack alongside William Friar.

The visitors took the lead in the 12th minute with a rather bizarre goal. A shot from a short corner at the edge of the circle just about rolled over the line with the Down defence rooted to the spot.

It was a real comedy of errors with Parkview players left wondering what on earth was going on.

The visitors went 2-0 ahead in the 20th minute when they exploited a huge hole in the home defence and a forward caught 'keeper Carl Mullan napping at his near post.

At the other end, Telford went close but when he damaged his hamstring he was forced to remain on the pitch and do what he could. On another night, even though injured, he could have scored a hat-trick.

Parkview went 3-0 ahead within five minutes of the restart when a long ball wasn't cut out by the Down defence and it wasn't long before they made it 4-0.

Telford then pulled a goal back for Down after good build-up play involving McCready. But any hope of a mini revival was dashed soonafter when Parkview scored again to make it 5-1.

The locals were missing a number of regulars and if they had been able to field their regular side the outcome may well have been very different.