Ballynahinch ready for a New Year’s Day cup cracker

20 November 2013

BALLYNAHINCH’S players will be going to bed early on New Year’s Eve.

That’s because the locals booked their place in the Sussex Regiment Cup final against Portrush on New Year’s Day with a hard-earned 3-1 semi-final win over Ballymena at Deramore last Sunday.

In the other semi, Portrush were made to work extremely hard by a very dogged Down side, with the North West outfit winning 3-0 to set up what promises to be a mouth-watering final which Ballynahinch will be hoping to win. Three years ago, the locals defeated the PSNI in a New Year’s Day final at Stormont.

Two goals from Stuart Hunter and a cracker from Alex Millar was enough to see the locals home with a little to spare, but Ballymena played their part in a great semi and came within inches of making it 2-2 in the second half. Twenty seconds later it was 3-1 to Ballynahinch and game over.

The locals started superbly and were all over Ballymena, with McIlwaine, Hunter, David Bolton and Millar causing all sorts of problems, but the early pressure failed to produce a goal.

Ballynahinch were awarded a short corner in the second minute but instead of shooting, skipper Leslie Harrison slipped the ball to Hunter whose ferocious shot was smothered by Ballymena ‘keeper Eddie Hampton.

Ballynahinch continued to press and when McIlwaine drilled the ball into the penalty area in the sixth minute there wasn’t a white shirt in sight to get on the end of it. Three minutes later, McIlwaine picked out Adam McKee but the latter’s shot hit the sideboard and rebounded to safety.

Livewire Hunter should have given his side the lead in the ninth minute after robbing Ballymena captain Chris Hogg, but with just Hampton to beat, the Ballynahinch man inexplicably pushed his shot past the wrong side of the post.

Twenty seconds later, Ballymena scored against the run of play with a rather scrappy goal from Ballynahinch’s view point. An innocuous ball into the penalty area caused major confusion with Gavin Lowry getting the deftest of touches to dink the ball over Mark Brown’s out-stretched arm.

Ballynahinch now faced a test of character which they passed with flying colours. Harrison teed up Hunter in the 16th minute but the latter was denied by Hogg before McKee had to be alert at the other end to prevent Matthew O’Neill getting a sight at goal.

An injury to Harrison in the 17th minute saw him replaced by Lee Thomas who started pulling the strings in the middle of the park, before Ashley Brown saw a charging run into the Ballymena penalty area ended with a smart challenge from Andrew Crooks.

The turning point came during a frenetic two-minute spell with 15 minutes of the half remaining. Hunter scored with a brilliant run at pace to make it 1-1 and before Ballymena had time to recover, they were staring down the barrel.

A minute after Hunter’s equaliser, Millar weaved his way into the penalty area and when he shifted the ball to his reverse side there was only going to be one outcome. His shot had so much pace on it that it whizzed past Hampton before he had time to set himself.

McKee, Millar and Bolton then combined in the 25th minute with the latter’s shot drifting wide. Thomas carelessly gave away possession one minute later, but the experienced Lawrence Patterson spared his blushes with a timely clearance to prevent Shields getting a run at Mark Brown.

Ashley Brown nipped the ball off David McDonald’s stick as he was about to pull the trigger and then Bolton should have made it 3-1 but failed to hit the target with seven minutes of the half remaining.

Ballynahinch needed a third goal in the second half to prevent any chance of a Ballymena fightback and the locals played well, with Thomas impressing in the middle of the park where he got through a phenomenal amount of work alongside Hunter.

The locals threw on Matthew Peters and Jason Campbell at the start of the second half and while the move surprised the home support, Ballymena were restricted to the odd breakaway.

Bolton’s eyes lit up in the 46th minute when fed by Peters but the former couldn’t beat Lowry to leave himself with a run at Hampton. Peters was then denied before Darren Roe, Ashley Brown and Hunter combined to create a chance for McKee whose control let him down at the vital moment.

Ballymena were awarded a free on the edge of the Ballynahinch penalty area but they made a mess of it and seconds later the ball was in the back of the net at the other end. McKee won the ball and his raking pass allowed Hunter to surge towards goal to fire past Hampton to make it 3-1. Game over.

Hunter then produced a dramatic goal-line clearance to deny O’Neill as Ballymena upped the tempo in a final hurrah in an attempt to get something from the game. Keeper Brown then produced a brilliant one-handed save from a short corner drag flick.

Ballynahinch were awarded a penalty stroke in the 24th minute after Thomas saw his goal-bound shot illegally kept out. Umpire Joe Robson had no hesitation pointing to the spot and there were no complaints from the Ballymena players.

McIlwaine collected the ball and touched the crossbar as he always does before he takes a penalty stroke, but he then missed, with his effort ironically crashing off the top of the bar he had touched seconds earlier and going over the net.

The miss was immaterial as the locals knew they were 10 minutes away from the final.

Millar saw another rasping shot on the reverse saved by Hampton before Mark Brown was again called upon at the other end.

Ballynahinch thoroughly deserved the win and the final against Portrush will certainly be one for the purists as both sides like to get the ball down and play. It will be a tight affair, but Ballynahinch have the ability to win.

Ballynahinch: Mark Brown, Lawrence Patterson, Adam McKee, Andrew Mulholland, Darren Roe, Ashley Brown, David Bolton, Leslie Harrison, Stuart Hunter, Alex Millar, Andy McIlwaine. Subs: Lee Thomas, Jason Campbell, Matthew Peters, Stephen Crean, David Ferris.

Ballynahinch 3

Ballymena 1

SUSSEX CUP SEMI-FINAL

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