Ards 4-0 Donegal Celtic
Ladbrokes.com Championship 1

An own goal, two from Darren Fitzgerald and one from Craig McMillen sealed all three points at Dixon Park on Saturday as Ards strolled past potential title contenders Donegal Celtic.

There was great support for the home side, one of the best attended so far this season, as many looked forward to this tasty encounter and few were disappointed, but no-one could have predicted the final score-line prior to kick-off. 

A few early weak shots and two easily cleared corners where all the Ards defence had to cope with as it was all Ards attacking in the first half of this match. The first of Ards' chances came just four minutes in when an ever energetic McMillen put pressure on the DC defence, forcing a free kick on the edge of the box. James Wright lined up the shot but it was well blocked by the DC wall.

Kris Pike found himself on the receiving end of a badly timed tackle from the DC number 8 which earned the visitor the first booking of the match. A dreadful error in the DC defence then saw the first goal of the game. With just 15 minutes gone the DC defender, under good pressure from Darren Fitzgerald, passed the ball back to his keeper only for the stranded No.1 to watch helplessly as the ball rolled by him and into the back of the net. It could have been two a minute later when a good flick on from Dee Irvine found Jimmy McIlhagga on the edge of the box and he volleyed his first time shot straight at the keeper.

The second however was not long in coming as Pike headed clear from his own box to find McMillen, who ran the length of the pitch only to be brought down at the other end by Celtic's last man Barry Spence. Leaving little choice for the referee, it was red for the DC man and a free kick for the home side on the edge of the area. With a four-man wall to beat, Fitzgerald's well struck shot rounded the wall and sailed into the centre of the goal as the keeper dived to his left.

With the Hoops now down to ten men the chances for Ards continued to flow with the best of these landing to Darren Stirling. On 35 minutes, clever skill by midfielder Wright found Stirling who shot on the turn only to see it run wide of the left upright.  Good running by Paul Dickson down the right found Stirling on the next occasion but this time he saw his chance easily gathered by the keeper.

Ards were forced to make a change at half time with the injured midfield maestro Wright being replaced by Aaron McKee. The second minute of the half saw McIlhagga fouled in the centre of the pitch as the DC number 8 caught him from behind. Having already been booked in the first half supporters, home and away, were fully expecting to see the second red card of the game only to watch the referee merely 'have a word' and award a free kick to Ards.

Though chances were surprisingly few in the second half David Cully, on as a sub for Paul Dickson, linked up well on the right with Stirling. Good running and a one-two with his teammate took him clear of two defenders only to see his eventual shot saved by the keeper.

The third goal came on 79 minutes and it was again good work by Cully on the right that set up the chance. A throw in from Mark Picking, on in place of Stirling, found Cully, who cut the ball back from the by-line to find Fitzgerald in acres of space at the back post and with no hesitation, he buried his opportunity.

The icing on the cake came in the first minute of added on time. A quick ball from Cully found McKee in the box and it was his turn to pull it back from the goal-line across the six-yard area, where Fitzgerald stepped over the ball to allow McMillen at the back post to finish off the 4-0 win in style.

- MATCH SPONSOR

Martin Philips Carpets, Portaferry Road, Newtownards

- SPONSOR'S MAN OF THE MATCH

Kris Pike

- AMIGO BOX UPDATE

31 goals = £15.50

1 Andy McDonald (c)
8 Paul Dickson	2 Darren Nixon	19 James Wilson	3 Kris Pike
5 Jimmy McIlhagga	6 Dee Irvine	16 James Wright	7 Craig McMillen
9 Darren Stirling		10 Darren Fitzgerald
Brown og 15, Darren Fitzgerald 22, 79, Craig McMillen 90+1

	11 Aaron McKee (for Wright), 12 Stephen Doyle, 14 David Cully (for Dickson), 17 Mark Picking (for Stirling), 20 Paul McKnight
	Ian Hall

10th October 2009