Short corner costly

Short corner costly

19 December 2012

BALLYNAHINCH were two minutes away from securing all three points in this vital Senior One clash at St. Colman’s High School.

But ill-discipline, which resulted in the visitors being awarded a late short corner, saw Newry score to escape with a point during a game when they were largely out-played.

In fact, had Ballynahinch converted a golden opportunity in the second period when they had a two-goal cushion, Newry may well have been dead and buried. But it wasn’t to be.

David Bolton and Alex Millar went close in the first half while Ballynahinch ‘keeper Mark Brown produced a brilliant save from drag flick effort at a short corner to prevent Newry from taking the lead.

Ballynahinch were on top, but it took them 10 minutes before the break to find a way past a well drilled Newry defence.

The goal was created by the impressive Millar. He was on the left hand side of the penalty area when he picked out Jason Campbell whose first time shot whistled past the ‘keeper for a superb opener.

At the back for Ballynahinch, Andrew Mulholland, Ashley Brown, Adam McKee and Scott Leitch were outstanding and deserved a win for their efforts alone.

The home side introduced Mark Graham at the start of the second half and within 10 minutes he made a major impact. He exchanged passed with Stuart Hunter and cracked the ball past the ‘keeper to give the locals a two-goal cushion.

Moments later, Ballynahinch should have been 3-0 ahead but Mulholland’s effort was well saved. It was all one-way traffic at this stage and with Newry on the back foot, Bolton and Graham went close, with the Newry ‘keeper coming out on top.

Mulholland and his Newry opponent were yellow-carded with 16 minutes to go, with the home players arguing the visiting forward should have been shown a red. The umpire disagreed.

Newry then scored to make it 2-1 with a deflected shot which gave Brown no chance and the comeback, which up until this point had looked unlikely, was on.

Ballynahinch mounted a breakaway led by Graham who found McKee and with the latter bearing in on goal, the Newry ‘keeper illegally kicked the ball outside his penalty area. He wasn’t yellow carded and escaped with a ticking off, with the home side awarded a free.

Hunter then rapped the ‘keeper’s pads with a short corner strike and when the rebound came to Miller his shot was also saved.

With two minutes to go, Newry were awarded a free hit, but the Ballynahinch players did not retreat five yards and the umpire rightly awarded a penalty corner which was converted to break home side hearts.

While a point was important, Ballynahinch were kicking themselves that they didn’t bag all three, but that’s something they hope to put right when they face Armagh away from home on January 5.

Ballynahinch 2

Newry 2

SENIOR 1