YC Border Cup run ended by men from East

YC Border Cup run ended by men from East

23 September 2015

ANOTHER day of disappointment for Killyleagh as they crashed out of the Border Cup at the second round stage.

A spectacular individual goal from midfielder Jamie Sharvin was not enough from The Showgrounds side as they attempted a second half fightback.

Once again Killyleagh were slow to settle and get into gear in the opening stages and their luck in the first half was summed up when John Murray’s goal bound shot, with ‘keeper Jacob Halliday seemingly beaten, hit a defender.

The defensive frailties that have bedevilled the YC continued as, with the half-time whistle looming, a defender was caught labouring on the ball and Luke Wilson punished them in full to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

After the restart stand-in YC striker Gavin Murray had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for offside. From the resultant kick, a long punt downfield by East ‘keeper Halliday wasn’t headed clear by the YC back line in the penalty area and East’s best player, William Gill, made it 2-0 in the 51st minute.

Chris Cochrane-Curran was introduced to provide some width and with Jamie Sharvin and Darren McConnell pulling the strings in midfield, Killyleagh tried to claw their way back into the tie. 

Sharvin pulled a goal back with a spectacular 25 yarder. He drifted through the midfield and spotting the ‘keeper marginally off his line, chipped Halliday, with the shot flying into the corner off the top of the net. 

It was a goal straight out of the catalogue of Northern Ireland record goalscorer David Healy, who was watching the game and joined in the applause of admiration.

With Sharvin and McConnell in midfield, Killyleagh always have a chance and from a Sharvin free kick, Gary Carberry headed on for Gavin Murray, but he was unable to get power on the header.

Sharvin created the next big chance, but Aaron Cheevers’ effort was blocked by Davidson.

The game turned on two separate incidents around the 80th minute. As Killyleagh continued to press, Gary Carberry hit the bar with a header.

Two Killyleagh players following up thought the ball had crossed the line with one turning away to celebrate only to see the ball bounce down to safety and into Halliday’s grateful grasp.

Within two minutes the tie was over. With Killyleagh down to 10 men temporarily with John Murray receiving treatment, a YC player miscontrolled the ball on the halfway line and yet again the Killyleagh defence went AWOL, leaving East striker Dee Wright to rifle his shot past Coburn for 3-1 in the 82nd minute.

There was still time for one extraordinary incident as the home side pushed to salvage some pride. As East cleared a Cochrane-Curran corner, Wright was left totally unmarked on the halfway line.

The ball landed at his feet and with no defender near him, he had the full length of the half to run into. It took some clever goalkeeping from Alastair Coburn to thwart him and spare Killyleagh’s blushes.