Match Highlights: Graeme Bolton & Ryan Tweedie

Saturday 13th March 2010 - Ladbrokes.com Championship 1

Ballyclare Comrades team

Subs: 12.Sam McWilliams  14.Steve Bainbridge  15.Marty McAvoy  16.Matt Boyd  17.Neil McGrath

Ards: McDonald, Wilson, Nixon, Spence, Picking, McKee, Wright, McIlhagga, Pike, Armour, Fitzgerald. Subs - Stirling, Doyle, Wray, Gorman, Rutherford.

Substitutions

David Officer (67')

Matt Boyd (67')

Lee Rushe (85')

Sam McWilliams (85')

Andy Simms (85')

Steve Bainbridge (85')

Goals

Jimmy McIlhagga (32')

Mark Picking (54')

Darren Fitzgerald (61')

Stephen Doyle (77')

Stephen Doyle (79')

Comrades cards

Lee Rushe

Comrades man of the match

Andy Long

Comrades had a result and a performance to forget as they lost heavily to tenants Ards, whose home tie this was at Dixon Park.

The team having performed well in the victory over Bangor the previous week, Gordon Chambers stuck with the same line-up, with Stuart Galbraith and Johnny Gowdy still unavailable due to suspension and holidays respectively.

The game started very evenly and for the first half hour there was little sign of what was to come. It was a very tight affair at that stage with neither side able to create a glimpse of a chance and defences were very much on top.

The first real scare of the game for Comrades came in the 21st minute when Ards striker Fitzgerald appeared to be felled in the box by a Stuart McCullough tackle. To the relief of the Comrades fans, however, the referee waved play on.

The first goal of the match came as Ards began to step up their game and play with more attacking purpose. On 32 minutes, a corner was played short on the right and the ball was then fed into the box to McIlhagga whose resulting, not particularly powerful, shot from 14 yards out somehow went through crowd of players and sneaked over the line past an unsighted Allen Huxley.

There were no further efforts in a dull first half, but Ards remained the more dynamic looking side and Comrades went in at half-time with a lot of thinking to do.

Gordon Chambers’ men did briefly start the second half brightly. On 51 minutes a Darren Munster cross from the left was met by a glancing header from Andy Long, which the under-worked Ards keeper McDonald had to save low near his post.

Unfortunately for Comrades supporters, Ards soon reasserted their dominance and increase their lead with a fine goal on 54 minutes. A cross from the left from Pike found Picking at the back post area and the veteran of Comrades’ 1997 Ulster Cup winning side struck a fierce volley between Allen Huxley and his near post.

Ards were now completely in control, with Comrades looking a disheartened side. On 58 minutes things might have got worse for the men in red and they were grateful for a fine block from Allen Huxley who rushed from his goal to deny Fitzgerald, who had been played clean through on goal.

It was not long, however, before Ards put any hopes of a Comrades comeback to bed with a third goal on 61 minutes; Fitzgerald heading in from 6 yards from a corner.

Although Comrades never gave up trying, they struggled badly to find any way past a resolute Ards defence. Eccentric Ards keeper McDonald found time to keep up a running argument with Comrades fans behind his goal; such was his level of inactivity. However, he did show that he has more to him than a suspect temperament when he made his only testing save of the game on 73 minutes, brilliantly keeping out a well struck Andy Simms free-kick from 22 yards and then reacting quickly to block Darren Munster’s close range effort from the rebound.

A goal at that stage might have given Comrades a slight glimmer of hope, but any chink of light was truly snuffed out on 77 minutes when substitute Doyle broke through a square Comrades defence and lashed the ball past Allen Huxley from 15 yards.

Things got even worse for Comrades two minutes later when Doyle picked up a stray pass from the Comrades back line and waltzed through to strike the ball into the roof of the net from 12 yards.

Although a well beaten side, Comrades did at least continue to try to get some consolation from the game, but it was not to be. The closest they came was on 87 minutes when a Scott Irvine free-kick from the left was whipped in low to a dangerous area at the edge of the 6-yard box, where Steve Bainbridge got on the end of it, but his touch was rather heavy and took the pace off the ball allowing McDonald to collect comfortably.

The final whistle came as a relief to Comrades fans, who had seen enough of a disappointing display from their side, which had been performing so well in recent months.

Hopefully, this display is just a blip and the players can react positively to it in the forthcoming matches.