Saturday 17th July 2010 - Pre-season friendly

Ballyclare Comrades team

Subs: 12.Stevie McDowell  14.Phil Logue  15.Davy Officer  16.Marty McAvoy  17.Ronnie Burns  18.Matt Boyd  Gk.Warren McAllister

Comrades substitutions

Neil McGrath (46')

Phil Logue (46')

Scott Irvine (46')

Stevie McDowell (46')

Simon McGowan (46')

Davy Officer (46')

Aaron Holland (61')

Matt Boyd (61')

Mark McClelland (61')

Ronnie Burns (61')

Andy Forsythe (64')

Marty McAvoy (64')

Goals

Rab Murdoch (16')

Mark McClelland (27')

Gary Brown (37')

Matt Boyd (90+3')

Comrades began their pre-season matches with a hard fought 2-2 draw with a well motivated Chimney Corner side at Allen Park in Antrim.

As is normally the case with the opening game of pre-season, there were still a number of players unavailable, but manager Gordon Chambers could still field a fairly strong side, including new signing Mark Hadden and trialists Eddie Hill and Aaron Holland.

The home side, with a game already under their belt, looked sharper than Comrades in the first half and took the lead in the 16th minute when they profited from a slip by Stuart McCullough just outside his own box which allowed Brown to pick up the ball before playing it into the box for Murdoch to hit the ball home from close range.

Comrades were struggling with their passing on a surface with rather long grass and Corner continued to look the more dangerous side, hitting the bar in the 26th minute when a corner was headed against the bar by Murdoch.

A minute later however, Comrades grabbed an equaliser. A well weighted pass by Andy Simms sent Mark McClelland clear and he slid the ball past keeper Agnew from 10 yards.

Comrades were certainly looking happier going forward than in defence, where they were regularly exposed. On 37 minutes Corner regained the lead, when Mark Hadden was outstripped down the left by Swann who advanced and fired a shot from just inside the box, which Paddy Flood could only parry out to Brown, who turned the ball home from 8 yards.

It could have got worse for Comrades before half-time, when on 44 minutes Brown, having stolen the ball in the box, fired an angled shot against the crossbar.

As is normal in these pre-season games, the second half saw a number of substitutions, with Comrades making six changes either during the interval or early in the half.

The second period was a fairly sedate affair, with neither side threatening that much until the latter stages.

Comrades certainly hadn’t looked too much like equalising, with their first dangerous effort coming in he 79th minute when a good strike from 16 yards by Andy Simms produced a fine save from Agnew.

With Comrades committing men forward late on, Corner began to look very threatening on the break, wasting a couple of good chances with the visitors short of numbers at the back.

They were made to regret these spurned opportunities when Comrades equalised three minutes into injury-time. A long high ball saw Eddie Hill challenge the keeper who had come out toward the edge of his box. The ball was spilled and although the keeper got his hand on it again, it was not under his control and Matt Boyd struck a shot which went into the unguarded net.