Ards fought hard for ninety minutes against Carrick at Taylor's Avenue today, fighting backing from a goal down to level the match, only to then be undone by a Neil Corr goal two minutes over the time.

Ards had enjoyed by far the bulk of possession in a scoreless first half, but had failed to penetrate the home defence, partly due to the absence of top scorer Darren Stirling, who had dislocated his shoulder. His place in the starting line-up went to David Wright, while David Cully was installed at right-back, with Colts goalkeeper Jason Mooney coming in for his debut.

An early touch for the towering keeper came in the 2nd minute when he comfortably held a free kick from Rangers' Peter Marks. On five minutes Ards' veteran striker Justin McBride tried his luck from some 22 yards but fired over the top, with the goalkeeper covering his net well.

The best chance of the first half went Ards' way on twenty minutes and fell to striker David Wright. He won the tussle for a through ball down the Ards' right and, although with a little to do, the path to goal seemed wide open for the player. Oddly, he pushed the ball out wide and then attempted a cross which was blocked, when a selfish shot seemed laid on.

Ards scorer Ryan Hyland

In the 26th minute a chance for Carrick opened up from a right-wing corner, that Mooney never came to collect and that caused a scramble in the Ards goal area. A follow-up corner found the feet of Eddie Adams who had his low shot strongly blocked by the keeper.

A good Ards breakaway on 42 minutes saw Cully come away with the ball down the right side. He slipped a pass through for Johnny Roy, whose cross into the box seemed very inviting, but flashed dangerously untouched across the Carrick goal. Then, on the stroke of half-time a shot from Carrick's Mark Watson from 25 yards struck the face of the Ards crossbar, with Mooney beaten to the world.

The second half began with the Ards side surprisingly unchanged, though by the 55th minute Johnny Cleary had left the play on a stretcher, being replaced at left-back by Kris Pike. A early chance for Ards saw Craig McMillen lash a snap-shot across the home penalty area that was just out of McBride's reach at the far post.

Carrick took a surprise lead on 63 minutes, when they broke quickly down the right side. Some neat foot-work saw Pike easily turned and the low cross presented little more than a tap-in for Peter Marks, left free in the centre. With that Ards manager Tommy Kincaid changed his forward line, sending on Ryan Hyland and Colts winger Gary Sharratt in a move that paid dividends within seconds. A short pass by Roy to his right found Hyland on the edge of the Carrick box and he thundered a low shot into the far corner of the goal to level the match with his first touch.

As expected the goals gave a tense second half an injection of life and each side had chances. None better than one for Ards on 87 minutes when a low McMillen cross-shot from the left side of the box narrowly skipped by the foot of Johnny Shaw, scrambling in to make a contact.

The draw seemed likely and a fair score it would have been, but for Corr's late entrance. With two minutes of injury time already on the clock, the substitute took a pace or two inside the Ards area and rifled a low, left-footed shot that found the far bottom corner of the Ards net, with Mooney a spectator on his line.

Team	Substitutes
1 Jason Mooney (GK)	3 Kris Pike (for Cleary 55)
2 Darren Nixon	8 Ryan Newberry
4 Gary Spence	17 Ryan Hyland (for Wright 63)
6 Johnny Shaw	21 Tony Tumelty
7 Craig McMillen 14	22 Gary Sharratt (for McBride 63)
10 Aaron McKee
12 Johnny Roy 87	Referee Hugh Carville
14 David Wright
18 David Cully	Scorer Ryan Hyland 64
19 Johnny Cleary
20 Justin McBride

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