WKD Intermediate Cup R1: Holywood 2-7 Ards
3rd November 2007

Ards took a 2-0 lead into the second half at Seapark today and swept in five further goals, including a real gem from Darren Stirling, to confirm Holywood's early Intermediate Cup exit.

Tommy Kincaid managed to field the same starting eleven for the first time in successive matches this season, although was able to welcome back Ricky Billing and Johnny Shaw to the subs bench. David Cully dropped out of the squad again, due to a re-occurrence of his ligament injury.

It was Holywood, currently bottom of the Amateur League, who had the first chance on goal as a third minute free kick was spilled by Andy McDonald and his defender James Wilson had to move in quickly to clear. Ards hit back through Darren Stirling, who had a well-hit right-footed shot saved on 9 minutes.

Holywood, who were fielding ex-Ards Colts player Ben McGrath, were playing some decent football and keeping the Ards defence on their toes. A 12th minute run through the Ards half by their No.10, saw him cut inside two defenders and strike a shot that didn't miss the left hand post by much.

An attack by Ards on the quarter hour saw Stirling make inroads from the right side and force the home keeper into a save, only for Justin McBride to follow up and score. Ref Les Tipping made a rare correct call and ruled out the header for offside. A neat move ten minutes later had McKee releasing Johnny Roy down the right flank to cross for Stirling. His shot was again well blocked by the goalkeeper, who followed that up by crucially kicking the loose ball away from the waiting McBride.

Stephen Johnston receives the ball

Craig McMillen incurred a yellow card and an inevitable suspension on 27 minutes and by the half hour Ards were ahead. A ball played over the top from Roy was met by the goalkeeper who cleared only as far as McBride. As the Ards assistant manager entered the box he went down under a couple of tackles and the loose ball presented itself for McKee to stroke calmly under the goalkeeper.

The Holywood keeper proved his worth again on 41 minutes, when he palmed away a high chipped shot from McBride and then at the other end Holywood were denied a free kick for what looked like a clear back-pass picked up by McDonald. Ards scored their second a minute over the time when a ball from Stephen Johnston released the off-side looking Stirling and he blasted high into the net at the second attempt after once again being denied by the keeper.

A real let-off for Ards began the second half as Andy McDonald left his area and appeared to stop the ball with both hands; luckily for him though the referee must have been unsighted. Holywood put a mark on the match on 51 minutes when Robert Butler fired into the far corner from the left side of the penalty area.

The goals now came in quick succession as Ards killed the match off thanks to their triple substitution of the 55th minute - on came Johnny Shaw, Ryan Hyland and David Wright and two of those players were to be among the goals by the game's end. Wright was first upon 61 minutes, knocking in his first for the club, low under the goalkeeper following a short run across the 18-yard line.

What could have been a brilliant second for Wright saw him strike the crossbar with a bullet header from Pike's cross barely two minutes later. By the 66th minute another goal had been added and it was the strike of the day from Stirling, who chipped the ball up some 30 yards from goal and volleyed straight over the keeper to make it 4-1.

Three minutes later and number five arrived via McKee's left-sided corner that was missed by a couple of jumping defenders and Johnny Roy was well-placed to calmly lash a low shot into the net.

The tempo kept up into the last ten minutes when Johnny Shaw should have found the net for Ards. A pass sent him down the left side and around the goalkeeper, who had seriously committed, but rather than shoot from distance, Shaw attempted to beat a further defender on route to goal and was ultimately dispossessed.

An 82nd minute pass from the hard-working Hyland found Wright on the edge of the 18, who stopped the ball dead and passed a simple shot into the bottom left-corner for 6-1. Although the Holywood legs had tired and the heads dropped, a goal was gifted their way a minute from the end when Andy McDonald presented a weak pass out to Stephen Horan, who calmly took his time and chipped in just below the bar.

One further piece of action followed, right on full time, when a burst of pace from Hyland took him inside the Holywood area and he struck a low drive into the bottom corner.

Team	Substitutes
1 Andy McDonald (GK)	6 Johnny Shaw (for Johnston 55)
2 Darren Nixon	11 Ricky Billing
3 Kris Pike	13 Lee Rutherford (GK)
4 Gary Spence	14 David Wright (for McBride 55)
5 James Wilson	17 Ryan Hyland (for McMillen 55)
7 Craig McMillen 27
9 Darren Stirling	Referee Les Tipping
10 Aaron McKee (capt)
12 Johnny Roy	Scorers Aaron McKee 30, Darren Stirling 45+1, 66,
16 Stephen Johnston	David Wright 61, 82, Johnny Roy 69, Ryan Hyland 90
20 Justin McBride

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