McKinney hits brace for soaring Kilmore

McKinney hits brace for soaring Kilmore

30 November 2022

KILMORE Rec continued their quest for promotion after overcoming Ballynahinch Olympic in dreadful conditions at Kilmore playing fields on Saturday.

Two second half goals from striker Joe McKinney and a late Niall Walsh effort were enough to seal the points for the Blues in what was a feisty local derby. 

Strong winds prevented either team from gathering any momentum early on and it took until the 13th minute for the first real scoring chance of the game.

Kilmore forward Joe McKinney tested Olympic ‘keeper Ryan Connolly’s gloves, but the Ballynahinch shot stopper produced a comfortable save.

Ballynahinch found themselves pegged back into their own half as Kilmore looked to take the initiative.

A period of scrappy play unfolded over the next 20 minutes with no end product coming from both sides.

Olympic’s best chance of the half came following some good work down the right flank from skipper Nathan Jones, whose probing pass into the box eventually rolled invitingly to team-mate James McClean.

The number eight’s effort narrowly missed the top left corner as Kilmore survived.

Ballynahinch did call Kilmore goalkeeper Christopher Turley into action after captain Jones whipped in an inviting free-kick which saw the number one spring into action and punch clear from his area.

The Blues weren’t without their opportunities as captain Anton McGrattan’s corner kick just missed the boot of onrushing team-mate Patrick Grant and a few minutes later McKinney attempted to lob ‘keeper Connolly from a one-on-one position.

However, the Olympic custodian stood tall and impressively denied the effort.

Kilmore were prevented the opening goal on the stroke of half-time as skipper McGrattan’s wind-assisted free-kick was expertly saved by goalkeeper Connolly.

The deadlock was broken five minutes into the restart after McKinney’s strike took a deflection which wrong-footed Connolly to give Kilmore the advantage.

Olympic heads refused to and although a few unsavoury tackles rang in from both teams, resulting in a series of yellow cards, it seemed as if the players were slowly coming to grips with the conditions.

Ballynahinch were denied what appeared to be a penalty when defender Jason Noade was seemingly pushed in the back inside the area by Kilmore defender Christopher Magee.

Moments later, McKinney would rub salt in the wounds by adding his second goal of the match in what felt like a sucker punch to the Ballynahinch team.

The striker’s effort had just enough power to go over the line, despite the last ditch attempted clearance from the Olympic defence.

Kilmore defender Niall Walsh put the gloss on his team’s performance by converting from close range following a scramble inside the box.

At 3-0 down, Olympic knew the clock was against them and to add insult to injury, the weather stepped up yet another notch to add an influx of rain to the occasion.

There was one last opportunity for Olympic to get on the scoresheet with a possible consolation goal.

A miss-kick from Kilmore ‘keeper Turley presented Olympic substitute Liam Burns with the chance but he failed to convert to cap an afternoon to forget for the Ballynahinch outfit.

The victory means Kilmore have increased their winning streak to six games in-a-row and leaves the Blues in second place in the table.

Meanwhile, Ballynahinch have now slumped to three losses on the bounce and currently sit in 11th position.

Olympic will be hoping for a quick change of fortune this weekend, although they have a mammoth task ahead of them as they face off against current table toppers Dromara Village, who have won all ten of their league games this season.

Ballynahinch Olympic: R Connolly, N McMullan, J Roddy, G McMullan, J Noade, M McMahon, R Walsh, J McClean, A McClean, N Jones (capt), C Burns.

Subs: N Flanagan, L Burns, C Killen.

Yellow cards: G McMullan, M McMahon, J Roddy, R Walsh.

Kilmore Rec: C Turley, C Magee, P Grant, C Curran, N Walsh, B Walsh, M Monan, J Patterson, J McKinney, A McGrattan, S McGrattan.

Subs: C Conlon, J Smyth, M Carvill.

Yellow cards: J Patterson.