|
 Carnegie
First Division: Ards 3-1 Coagh United
1st April 2008
Tommy Kincaid's Ards
continued their mini revival with a pleasing 3-1 victory over Coagh
United on Tuesday night.
The truth was Ards should
have won by a much larger margin but made things difficult for
themselves by missing good chances and defending poorly on occasions.
Ards, however, played their usual attractive football, attacking their
Mid-Ulster counter parts from the outset.
Ards had all the early
pressure, taking the game to Coagh who defended valiantly, with full
back Stuart Dallas impressing on-lookers. However, it was Ards' man of
the match Craig McMillen who unlocked the Hagan Park defence with his
mercurial wing play.
It was McMillen who got to
the bye line, half way through the first half, to cut the ball back for
a delighted Jonny Roy who would have struggled to miss from inside the 6
yard box. At this stage you'd have been forgiven for thinking Ards
already had the game in the bag but Coagh United had other ideas.
Coagh United equalised
around the half hour from a poorly defended throw in, which was flicked
on for defender Stephen Hawe to volley into Andy McDonald's far corner. Ards were
undeterred by this, and went back on the attack. Both Craig McMillen and
Ricky Billing were left frustrated when they saw their long range
efforts bounce back of the woodwork with Johnny Pollock left stranded.
The second goal game as a
result of continuous pressure on the Coagh penalty box which eventually
saw the ball drop in the penalty box for Ards number 5 James Wilson.
Wilson's miss-hit shot found the inside of the post and eventually the
back of the net to give Ards the lead again three minutes from the break.
Wilson, who has previously struggled to impress Ards fans at centre back
and centre forward, seems to have found form in the centre of midfield,
where he has been both tackling well and chipping in with crucial goals.
Ards weren't done for the
half yet. Two minutes after the second Ards goal Craig McMillen
crucified the Coagh defence one again only to be hacked down in the box
for as blatant a penalty as you are likely to see all season.
Unfortunately Darren Stirling was unable to capitalise as his weak
penalty was comfortably stopped by the impressive Johnny Pollock.
The second half could not
live up to the excitement of the first. Coagh were allowed to come back
into the game, but fortunately for Ards they squandered a number of
chances to equalise. Notably McDonald was forced into a wonder save
which saw the flamboyant shot stopper pushing the ball past the post
when it seemed certain to find the goal.
Ards themselves had a
string of second half chances which eventually culminated in the third
goal on 65 minutes, which put the result beyond any doubt. Darren
Stirling broke down the wing, finding himself in ample space, but his
shot/cross missed both the far corner of the net and the incoming
McMillen. Tenacious work by Aaron McKee saw him keep the ball in play.
The midfield playmaker cut inside and fired a rasping drive at Pollock
who parried into the path of Stirling who then volleyed home what was
still a difficult chance.
In the last ten minutes
Coagh had chances to pull one back but Ards and McDonald worked hard to
keep the score at a well deserved 3-1 victory in front of a very small
Ards support.
Keith Bailie
| Team |
Substitutes |
| 1 Andy McDonald (capt.)
(GK) |
14 Danny Mulholland |
| 2 Darren Nixon |
16 Stephen Johnston |
| 3 Kris Pike |
18 David Cully (for
Roy 80) |
| 4 Gary Spence |
20 Justin McBride (for
Billing 70) |
| 5 James Wilson |
23 Mark Parker (for
Stirling 75) |
| 7 Craig McMillen |
|
| 9 Darren Stirling |
Referee
Keith Halliday |
| 10 Aaron McKee |
|
| 11 Ricky Billing |
Scorers
Jonny Roy 27, James Wilson 42, |
| 12 Jonny Roy |
Darren Stirling 65 |
| 15 Gary Clifford |
|
[
Discuss this story on the
TALKards
forum ]
|
