KILMORE Rec defied the odds yet again when they dumped high-flying Institute out of the Irish Cup at Drumahoe to set up a clash with Cliftonville in the quarter-finals.
Few expected Gary Kennedy’s (inset) side to get anything from their trip to the north west, given that Institute are bidding for promotion into the Irish League Premier Division.
But that counted for nothing on Saturday when Kilmore’s giant-killers rolled into town and brushed aside their hosts in dramatic fashion.
The Rec let Institute know they were in for a rough ride as early as the second minute when Andrew Telford capitalised on a mistake from Paddy McLaughlin and calmly fired the ball past a bemused Marty Gallagher to give the visitors an early lead.
Kilmore were content to let Institute play their passing game, but they continually disrupted the hosts’ attempts to get into the box and with nine minutes gone Eoin Curran picked the ball up on the halfway line.
The pacy midfielder surged forward and as the Institute defence backed off him, he let fly from 25 yards out. Unfortunately, his stinging effort went inches wide.
It took the home side a good 15 minutes before they had their first shot on goal when left back Graeme Taylor tried his luck from 30 yards out, but his strike went well wide.
There is no doubt that Institute were seeing a lot more of the ball, but they weren’t hurting Kilmore, while, at the other end, Philip Traynor’s pace was giving Institute cause for concern.
Traynor revelled in the conditions and with 26 minutes gone he left his marker for dead before shooting wide. With 30 minutes gone a Mark Holland free picked out Johnny Cheevers in the box, but his effort didn’t trouble Gallagher.
Institute piled forward in numbers as the first half drew to a close, but they got no change whatsoever from a rock solid Kilmore defence.
Institute changed to 3-4-3 formation at the start of the second half in a bid to get back on level terms, but it was Kilmore who remained the more dangerous in attack.
With 50 minutes gone Peter Telford broke up an attack and immediately sent brother Andrew scampering down the flank.
Andrew surged into the box where he was felled by Taylor and Stephen Douglas sent the Kilmore Krazies wild with delight when he made it 2-0 from the penalty spot. Taylor was also sent off for his challenge and things got even worse for Institute when they had a second player sent off for a late challenge on Andrew Telford.
A spate of bookings for players from both sides followed before McCarthy had a header well saved by Gallagher and Traynor also tested the Institute ‘keeper with a good shot.
Traynor did have the ball in the net in the 78th minute, but his effort was ruled out for offside. The only blemish on Kilmore’s day came in the 89th minute when Cheevers was sent off after he picked up a second yellow for a pretty innocuous challenge and he will now miss this Saturday’s crunch league encounter with Newington YC at the Cliff in Larne.
Kilmore Rec: M. McKenna, S. Douglas, J. Cheevers, M. Holland, M. Miskelly, K. Lewis, N. McCarthy, P. Telford, E. Curran, A. Telford, P. Traynor. Subs: M. Hardy, J. Larkin, G. Kennedy, S. Bell, J. Murray.
Institute 0
Kilmore Rec 2
IRISH CUP 6TH ROUND