Ballynahinch held with late equaliser

Ballynahinch held with late equaliser

24 October 2012

BALLYNAHINCH are off and running in Senior One.

The locals picked up their first point of the season against Queen’s last Saturday, with the hosts scoring an equaliser in the dying seconds to deny Ballynahinch a well-deserved win.

Missing Leslie Harrison and Mark Brown the visitors handed a debut to Timothy Crean and while the game at The Dub was a slow burner during the early stages, it wasn’t a boring affair by any means.

Queen’s took the lead in the 15th minute after a forward evaded a number of attempted Ballynahinch tackles to score past Dave Chadwick, but the visitors rallied, with Scott Leitch, Alex Millar and Mark Graham all going close to grabbing the equaliser.

Chadwick was being tested to the full by the students and was called upon to make a number of smart saves in the opening 35 minutes to make sure Queen’s did not extend their lead.

Four minutes from the break Ballynahinch were deservedly back on level terms when livewire Millar, who is back playing up front, collected a superb pass from Andy McIlwaine before rifling the ball into the net.

Given their effort, going in on level terms was nothing more than the visitors deserved and they were keen to grab the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half.

The second period was just five minutes old when Queen’s thought they had their nose in front again but a shot which had “goal” written all over it was cleared off the line in miraculous style by Leitch.

Queen’s had clearly upped the ante and within 10 minutes of the restart were back in front. A short corner was awarded against the locals and a perfectly executed drag flick gave Chadwick no chance.

Ballynahinch were under the cosh at this stage with Chadwick, Andrew Mulholland and Adam McKee working overtime to prevent the home side from increasing its lead.

As the half progressed, Stuart Hunter managed to get a foothold in the middle of the park to control the game for the visitors, alongside McKee, David Ross and Crean.

With 20 minutes to go it was 2-2 with Millar scoring his second goal of the game after some great work from Hunter and McKee. The latter picked out Millar in the penalty area and his perfectly executed finish gave the ‘keeper no chance.

The tide had turned and both Ross and Crean had opportunities to give the visitors the lead for the first time in the game but squandered them. However, with 10 minutes to go, Ballynahinch scored. Great work from Ashley Brown and McKee down the right saw the ball worked to Hunter who passed to Graham who, in typical style, drilled the ball into the roof of the net. Incredibly, Graham was through on goal five minutes later only for the umpire to stop play and award a free to the visitors. It’s a decision which didn’t go down well with the locals who argued the official should have played an advantage.

With nothing to lose, Queen’s threw men forward and Ballynahinch were forced to defend for their lives, with the home side grabbing an fortuitous equaliser in the closing seconds when a ball drilled into the penalty area deflected off a defender’s stick and past Chadwick into the net.

But there was more drama. Ross made a great run and got into the Queen’s circle but the home ‘keeper pulled off a great save to give his team a draw.

Queen’s 3

Ballynahinch 3

SENIOR 1