Hunter’s late goal seals win

Hunter’s late goal seals win

29 January 2014

THIS five-goal thriller produced end-to-end hockey with Ballynahinch grabbing the winner with just five minutes to go.

The win extended Ballynahinch’s lead over Armagh in the league to eight points with the locals now virtually guaranteed the play-off position to see who goes into Senior One next season.

Leslie Harrison’s side — despite the New Year’s Day defeat at the hands of Portush in the Senior Two Cup final — have been in top form. And while they were made to work hard last weekend, they deserved the points. Just.

Home ‘keeper Mark Brown was again outstanding, proving he is one of the best in the business. Brown produced a string of saves before Ballynahinch had taken the lead and throughout the 70 minutes.

Twice Ballynahinch led in this thrilling encounter and twice Armagh came back to draw level, with that late converted penalty guaranteeing the locals all three points, but it was close.

Ballynahinch took the lead in the 16th minute though skipper Harrison whose short corner strike was too hot to handle for the Armagh ‘keeper and his fellow defenders.

Before they had opened the scoring, both Jason Campbell and Andy McIlwaine went close.

Five minutes after going behind, Armagh were level. Brown made an initial save from a short corner but the rebound fell kindly for a visiting forward who was allowed too much space and time to tuck the ball home.

At the other end, Campbell, David Bolton and McIlwaine went close again, but the sides remained locked at 1-1, thanks in the main to top saves produced by both ‘keepers.

Ballynahinch went 2-1 ahead midway through the second half through Ashley Brown after a sweeping move that tore Armagh apart.

Lawrence Patterson started the move which led to the goal, passing to Hunter who drove forward at pace before picking out Brown who scored superbly on the reverse.

With 10 minutes to go Armagh were back on level terms again after they caught the home side on the counter attack with a goal Ballynahinch felt should not have been awarded.

The Armagh striker’s stick was raised above his head when he forced the ball home. The umpire disagreed and the goal stood.

It was now very tense and while it appeared both sides would be content with a point, they were also keen to sniff out any opportunity which would have bagged all three.

With five minutes to go, Ashley Brown and Hunter combined and when the latter forced his way into the penalty area he was challenged by no less than three Armagh players, with the umpire having no hesitation correctly pointing to the spot for a penalty.

Hunter was the calmest man in the ground when after picking himself up he steered the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

With the points almost in the bag, Ballynahinch kept things tight at the back as Armagh surged forward in a last-gasp attempt to snatch a draw, but the home defenders held firm to secure all three points in a close encounter.

Now Harrison’s men can look forward to back-to-back derby clashes against derby rivals Down.