East Belfast resurgence blows Mills out of cup

East Belfast resurgence blows Mills out of cup

8 October 2025

DRUMANESS Mills were caught in the whirlwind of Storm Amy as an East Belfast comeback blew them out of the Border Cup.

The Mills sailed into a 2-0 lead inside the first half an hour, courtesy of goals from strike partners Jack Sharvin and Callum Dougan, but they found themselves back at square one when East’s Kyle Woods and Jaydyn Withers netted within a minute of each other.

Kyle Flynn launched the visitors in front late on, and with the home side seemingly stunned, Woods’ second goal sealed their fate.

The powers of the storm dominated the early stages of the game, with strong winds battering the Meadowvale venue, putting paid to a number of developing chances.

East were first to threaten to scoreboard, when Woods stole a march on right-back Keegan Domican and picked out Rhys Kelly, however, his shot flew miles over the crossbar.

Drumaness had been saved by the wind in that encounter, and it almost came to their aid a minute later, causing goalkeeper Scott Mashal to spill Sharvin’s corner.

Amongst a sea of bodies, the hosts had multiple stabs at the loose ball, only to be stopped by the desperate, yet effective, blocks from an array of Belfast players.

However, they did not have long to wait for an opener, snatching the advantage on the 16-minute mark. 

Peter Brannigan overturned possession in midfield and set off on a marauding run. Despite the crowd urging him to take the shot on, he opted to take an extra step and slip the ball through to Sharvin, who curled into the bottom corner.

The goal had the desired effect for the Mills, encouraging them to strike while the iron was hot and immediately target the shell-shocked visitors.

They forced a couple of corners, both of which were expertly delivered by Sharvin and met in the air, calling the away defence into action with another pair of heroic blocks.

Knowing they were riding their luck, East Belfast regrouped, rediscovering their attacking threat from earlier in the contest.

A fast-paced counter attack saw Brandon Lindsay put a chance on a plate for Woods, who could only find the woodwork, under little pressure.

Woods thought he would have a simple finish to redeem himself five minutes later, when Flynn delivered a low, driven cross into the six-yard box, but the striker had the ball taken off his toes by home captain Gary Murdock.

The travelling side were left reeling by their wasted opportunities, and matters soon went from bad to worse.

Kyle McCleery’s cross fell invitingly to Sharvin at the back post and although his volley did not have the direction, Dougan reacted to stick out a leg and guide it into the top corner, doubling the margin.

Although the hosts looked to be cruising at 2-0, East Belfast were not to be discouraged and quickly turned the game on its head, taking just five minutes to force parity.

Their first goal arrived when Withers produced a sublime, outside-of-the-boot cross to pick out Woods, who drifted away from his marker and applied the finish touch.

Merely a minute later, Withers turned from provider to scorer, dancing through the box and rifling the equaliser into the bottom corner.

Drumaness would have suffered a total collapse on the stroke of half-time, was it not ‘keeper Aaron Carberry displaying cat-like reflexes to deny Woods from close range.

If conditions had not already been testing enough, the second half saw Storm Army make her presence felt with torrential rain. 

Still, with momentum in tow, East Belfast could smell blood in a Mills team that was ultimately rocked by letting a two-goal lead slip.

Withers broke away down the right wing, manoeuvred into the box and cut the ball back to Jack Kinner, who hit it on the bounce and called Carberry into action with another blinding save.

There was no time for Carberry to admire his work though, as he was really made to earn his corn just minutes later, producing an unlikely to save to pluck Flynn’s curling free-kick out of the bottom corner.

Despite finding themselves under the cosh for the vast majority of the second period, Drumaness came to within a whisker of restoring their lead.

McCleery got up to meet Tom McNeill’s cross and directed a header on goal, but he could only watch on as Taylor Evans cleared it off the line and on to the upright.

Minutes later, East finally found a way past the imperious Carberry, taking a step closer to completing their comeback when Flynn finished off a fie move from Woods.

They piled the misery on their hosts in the 90th minute, with Woods reacting to Linday’s blocked shot, firing home from just inside the box.

It was a disappointing afternoon for Drumaness, who will now invest their resources in the league campaign, seeking to chase down Premier Division leaders Lisburn Rangers.

Drumaness: A Carberry, K Domican, T McNeill, S Holland, G Murdock (captain), P Brannigan, D Looney, K McCleery, C Dougan, J Sharvin, A McGrattan.

Subs: S Og Gallagher, S Mason, E Murray.

East Belfast: S Mashal, J Edge, T Evans, P Waite, K Flynn, R Kelly, J Withers, D Evans (captain), J Kinner, K Woods, B Lindsay.

Subs: B Porter, L McCullough, N Mitchell.

Drumaness Mills 2

East Belfast 4

BORDER CUP 2ND ROUND