Carnegie First Division: HW Welders 1-0 Ards
22nd September 2007

Ards left Tillysburn Park with the zero points they deserved from this uninspiring display as the First Division season kicked-off.

Just a single goal decided the game but credit must go to the Welders for being the side to claim it. Ards on the other hand rarely looked like seriously troubling their opponent's goal at any point during the ninety minutes.

The two week break for the Ards side had allowed sufficient time for both Johnny Cleary and Darren Stirling to recover from their respective injuries. Cleary was once again installed at left-back, pushing Kris Pike further up the field. New striker David Wright was sat on the bench.

A fair travelling support was far from entertained in the first half, as neither side showed any kind of spark. Indeed one would struggle to remember either goalkeeper having anything to do for the first 35 minutes. Much of the flow was interrupted by a few choice tackles from the home side and a couple of inevitable bookings duly arrived on 24 minutes with Ards Ricky Billing and Welders' Ryan Davidson seen squaring up to each other.

Ex-Ards player Davidson then created the first chance of the game six minutes from the break. Davidson's run down the left flank saw him cut in and unleash a low cross-shot that Andy McDonald went to ground to save. A couple of minutes later and Marc Roy delivered a volley from the edge of the Ards area that flew straight over the bar.

A mark was finally made on the game two minutes over the forty-five when the Welders were awarded a free kick out on the left touchline. Davidson was the deliverer and he found the head of defender Gary Hewitt who ducked to head past the reach of McDonald to the far bottom corner.

Ards staked their intention to make more of a fist of things in the new half on 48 minutes. Some sharp interplay between Craig McMillen and Billing on the right side of the field culminated with Billing curling a left-footed shot over the crossbar. A better chance followed on fifty-one when Darren Stirling broke down the left side and drew the goalkeeper out before sliding the ball back into the box. A quick reaction from McMillen saw him reach the ball ahead of his marker but a brave diving tackle blocked the shot.

A minute later and Stirling struck the post with a nearside header from Aaron McKee's free kick. A break by the Welders' Mark Craig on 56 minutes then put Ards under pressure but McDonald was sharp enough to push the ball away for a corner.

The best hope Ards had of leveling the game arrived and went on 67 minutes. A brief moment of ping-pong in the Welders box saw a Jamsie Wilson header find McMillen eight yards out from goal. He looked well placed to convert the chance but for a splendid block from James Thompson who had looked stranded on the floor.

The game fizzled out again after that and Ards rarely troubled their opponents again despite now fielding an extra two strikers in Justin McBride and new-boy Wright. The Welders in fact went closest to adding to the score when Mark Craig fired a shot over the top two minutes from the end.

Team	Substitutes
1 Andy McDonald (GK)	12 David Wright (for Wilson 85)
2 Darren Nixon 88	14 Glen Bowers
3 Johnny Cleary	15 Darren Kincaid
4 Gary Spence	16 David Cully
5 James Wilson	17 Justin McBride (for Pike 61)
6 Johnny Shaw
7 Craig McMillen	Referee Cecil Floyd
8 Kris Pike
9 Darren Stirling 90
10 Aaron McKee
11 Ricky Billing 24

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