Our Under 18s got back to winning ways in the Academy League following a 3-0 victory over Carrick Rangers at the Bangor Fuels Arena on Friday evening
Carrick were the better side in the opening stages of the game, Ards keeper Ryan Dalzell had to be alert to pull off a great save to keep the scores level. The Amber Army continued to play good football moving the ball from back to front with ease as Ards failed to get near them to compete. The latter end of the half Ards upped their game after some fresh legs were put on up front, the introduction of Jourdan Shearer and Jonny Murray made the Carrick defence work a little harder but it remained scoreless at the break.
Half Time
Ards 0-0 Carrick Rangers.
Following a half time chat the players came out the second period with their backs up, winning the majority of first and second balls they got it down and the first goal came after an impressive 14 passes as Ards were patient in their build up, Shearer cut back for Murray to finish past the Carrick keeper. Ards got their second goal midway through the half, James Watson’s directed header in midfield fell to Karl Hollywood who drove forward and finished calmly into the bottom corner. Carrick did have their chances in the game, Dalzell stood tall to save from a dangerous free kick then minutes later great awareness from Stuart McKibben who cleared a goal bound shot off the line. Ards grabbed a third with just 10 minutes to go, Adam Munn held the ball up before spotting the run of Murray who drilled a shot low and hard at the near post to seal the win.
An impressive second half performance from Ards as they get back to winning ways in the Academy League, next up for them is an away trip to Coleraine on Friday.
Full Time
Ards 3-0 Carrick Rangers
Man Of The Match
Stuart McKibben
Starting XI - Dalzell (GK), Keenan, Macrory (C), McKibben, Brownlee, MacDonald, McCann, Bickerstaff, Duckett, Hollywood, Munn
Substitutes - McGirr, Watson, Young, Shearer, Murray
“Very pleased with the effort and application in the second half, it was a lot more like us. We competed, we won battles, we got the ball down and moved it quickly, we created chances, we defended resolutely all of what was missing in the first half. We had a chat at half time as it was similar to the Newry game however the response in the second half was better. We had a strong 16 man squad tonight with all the players getting game time, some unfortunate injuries to Jourdan Shearer and Finlay Keenan who both ended up at A&E, however there is no serious damage and they’ll be back in a number of weeks. We move on to training next week ahead of the game away to Coleraine”