Abbey Villa 0-5 Ards

It's not often that a flurry of goals is expected in encounters between Abbey Villa and Ards but after a run of one-all draws going back several years, fans finally got some action on Monday evening.

Host side Villa were unfortunately outclassed in the first half as Ards hit five goals without reply to finish off the Amateurs. Still missing several players through injury including Pike, Towell and Young and with Collins and Boylan on holiday, Ards began with new signings Matty Neill and Sammy Devine on the pitch as well as trialist Mark McQuillan in an unfamiliar left-back role.

Ards had hit the ground running with a couple of early chances that weren't too far away. On four minutes Stephen Doyle released McKee into the right hand corner and his low cross found Darren Fitzgerald who sliced the ball wide of the goalkeeper but also the left-hand post. Ards followed that up with a shot from Aaron McKee that was well hit and surely had the goalkeeper beaten but, as it turned out, also the crossbar.

On 16 minutes the action turned to the other end as Villa won a corner. A good ball into the box found Ben Townley and he powered a header in that Jon Munn turned away brilliantly at close range. Ards went in front on 21 minutes when Fitzgerald broke clear of the Villa defence. With the keeper advancing Fitzgerald mis-hit his shot across the box, but luckily the loose ball was picked up by Doyle and he had a fairly simple finish.

A great passing move by Ards on 26 minutes was unfortunate not to yield a goal as Devine linked up well with Wright and the latter struck an outside of the foot shot against the home crossbar. The second goal did come on 31 minutes however as McIlhagga sent a quickly taken corner into the box. Wright was there at the near post to swing on the ball and though his initial effort was blocked, Wright was quick to follow-up and place into the far corner.

Perhaps the Villa heads began to drop at that goal, for the Millisle side were about to be hit again and again. Goal number three arrived with 34' gone as Ards won a free 20 yards out and Wright's shot embarrassingly slipped through the hands of keeper Tony Galbraith and into the net.

On 37 minutes it was four when Doyle ran onto a ball over the heads of the defence and took an early lob to beat the stranded keeper with a very confident finish. The scoring was wrapped up with five minutes to the break as McKee and Neill combined to lay the ball off for Doyle in the left corner. His low ball in was parried by Galbraith and Fitzgerald was there to hit home, albeit at the second attempt.

The free-scoring of the first half didn't carry on past the break as Ards switched to a possession game and Abbey Villa did their best to work some chances. They weren't far away from a goal on 62 minutes when Thomas Canavan struck a free kick from 22 yards just wide of an upright with replacement keeper Sammy Maxwell watching it go wide.

Canavan followed that up with a 67th minute effort that he struck directly at Maxwell when clear through on the goalkeeper. Second half chances for Ards included an effort from Wright being saved by Galbraith at his near post and a header from Fitzgerald that rose just over the crossbar.

The final chance went to Villa with two minutes to run as McCormick ran through the Ards lines, shrugging off the attentions of stand-in defender McIlhagga, and struck a well-hit shot off the base of an Ards post with Maxwell completely unmoved.

Scorers Stephen Doyle 21, 37, James Wright 31, 34, Darren Fitzgerald 40

Ards Team 1 Jon Munn, 14 Matty Neill, 2 Darren Nixon, 5 James Wilson, 15 Mark McQuillan, 11 Aaron McKee, 6 Sammy Devine, 7 Jimmy McIlhagga, 16 James Wright, 9 Stephen Doyle, 10 Darren Fitzgerald

Substitutes 4 Gary Spence, 8 Mark Picking (for Nixon h/t), GK Sammy Maxwell (for Munn 56)

Referee Gary Gallagher

21st July 2010