Dundela 1 v 5 Ards

Ards faced 5th placed Dundela at a wet and windy Wilgar Park. The away side were without Craig McMillen, Kyle Calderwood and Ben Cushnie. While Dylan Wilson returned to the squad. Early in the first half the home side had a possible penalty appeal when Jay Magee’s header arguably hit the hand of striker Michael McLellan, however the referee waved away the challenge and an early let off for Ards Then Kym Nelson was lucky to get just a yellow for a sliding off the ball challenge in the 11th minute. On the quarter hour mark Eamon McAllister’s run and strike was just wide of the right hand post, However only a minute later the away side opened the scoring when McLellan’s attempt from range found the top corner leaving the keeper helpless making it 1-0 to Ards As the home side looked to get back in the game, Carl McComb's effort right in front of goal forced Brian Neeson into a good save which proved to be valuable as on 28 minutes Ards doubled their lead when Salou Jallow hit in the rebound from David McAllister’s strike to make it 0-2. A minute later a lovely pass from D McAllister found McLellan and his header beat Dundela keeper McBride to give Ards two goals in very quick succession. The half ended 0-3. Early in the second half the home side got one back when Ross Holden’s strike from the edge of the box found the back of the net to make it 1-3. However any worries of letting the lead slip were quelled when Ards restored their three goal lead in the 66th minute when skilled play from Jallow gave Eamon McAllister a good opportunity, with his strike beating the Dundela keeper for 4-1 With 10 minutes left McLellan got his hat trick and Ards fifth when his close range shot found the back of the net. The game ended 5-1. A great victory for Ards, who played some good football, even in the awful weather conditions. This victory means the Red and Blues overtake Dundela, thanks to a superior goal difference and now sit in fifth place. Ards will face league leaders Portadown next Saturday at the Bangor Fuels Arena. Starting eleven : Neeson, Young,McGovern, Taylor, Armstrong, E.McAllister, Murray, Nelson, D.McAllister, Jallow, McLellan. Substitutes used : Harwood, Dinu and Gemmell for Armstrong, D.McAllister and E.McAllister. Substitutes unused. Pollock and D.Wilson.