IFA Championship 1
Ards 0-5 Ballinamallard United

James Cully had been passed fit enough to return from a shoulder injury and he took the place of Nixon in the centre of defence. But even his return failed to stop the advance of Ballinamallard. Feeney's first strike came in the fifth minute, after a long free kick pumped up into the Ards box by Mark Stafford wasn't properly dealt with by Graeme McKibbin. The goalkeeper's weak punch went straight to Feeney and he sent a perfectly weighted lob back over McKibbin and into the empty net.

Ards had but a brief flash of their opponents' goal a couple of minutes later when David Cully worked a move up their right hand side and delivered a high ball into the box for Aaron McKee but the Ards midfielder was well muscled out at the near post.

Ballinamallard netted their second goal on 24 minutes as the Ards defence struggled to cope with anything coming their way. A couple of short, simple passes had the ball worked around the home back line and when the ball reached Feeney at the back post, he had a simple tap-in for his second of the match.

On 27 minutes some good inter-play between McKee and Ryan Berry on the Ards right saw McKee deliver a cross over for Ross Arthurs. His feint touch was enough to knock the ball on to Nathan McConnell and although he confidently found the net, his effort was correctly ruled out for offside. The afternoon worsened for Ards on 31 minutes with Cully's dismissal. As Ballinamallard moved the ball up their left flank, Cully went racing in on Danny Keohane, never looking like he would get near the ball and with young Keohane flung into the air, referee Hugh Carville didn't hesitate to produce the red card.

The United third came on 37 minutes and it was the easiest finish of Steve Feeney's afternoon. As Ballinamallard again knocked the ball about Ards' six-yard area, Ciaran Boyd intercepted but his attempted clearance flew straight to Feeney who returned the ball unimpeded into the Ards net. Three became four a minute from the half-time whistle. With Ballinamallard pressing Ards back into their own area David Kee struck an innocuous shot from the edge of penalty area that McKibbin appeared to have covered only for the ball to escape past his body and find the net.

The half-time interval saw Justin McBride make three changes, sending on Gareth Corey, Sammy Devine and Adam Arthurs for Picking, Cully and Ross Arthurs, but even McBride must have sensed the futility of it.

For Ballinamallard the game was won and as expected they didn't maintain their domination of the match. Ards didn't enjoy any more of the play however as Ballinamallard did what they had to do, and Ards struggled to make any impact with McConnell now the lone attacking force.

Jimmy McIlhagga - Ards' man of the match

The early portion of the new half saw Ards pick up a couple of bookings, the first for Boyd, then for sub Devine. Devine's afternoon would prove to be a short one as he soon roared into another poorly thought-out challenge on 62 minutes, earning him a second yellow that saw him heading back to the dressing room a mere 17 minutes after coming on. 

Whether forced or not, Ballinamallard then had the luxury of being able to change their goalkeeper on 69 minutes with the barely troubled Fergal Murphy giving way to James McGrath. The replacement goalkeeper wasn't even troubled by Ards' only threat of the entire second forty-five minutes. Aaron McKee's 83rd minute corner appeared to lay on a decent opening for Corey at the near post, but he failed to direct his header goal-wards and put the ball past from a couple of yards.

The final goal from Ballinamallard was the pick of the bunch, neatly put away by Andy Crawford in the 87th minute. He got on the end of a pass knocked up into the Ards box and flicked the ball over Ciaran Boyd before side-stepping McKibbin and rattling the ball into the empty goal. Ards' afternoon was finally only, and not a minute too soon.

Sponsor's Man of the Match Jimmy McIlhagga

Ards Team 1 Graeme McKibbin (GK), 12 David Cully, 14 James Cully, 4 Gary Spence, 16 Ciaran Boyd, 11 Aaron McKee, 17 Jimmy McIlhagga, 6 Ryan Berry, 19 Mark Picking, 9 Nathan McConnell, 10 Ross Arthurs

Substitutes 8 Sammy Devine (for J.Cully h/t), 13 Paul Kee (GK), 15 Gareth Corey (for R.Arthurs h/t), 21 Adam Arthurs (for Picking h/t)

Referee Hugh Carville

1st October 2011

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