Saturday 17th April 2010 - Ladbrokes.com Championship 1

Ballyclare Comrades team

Subs: 12.Steve Bainbridge, 14.Marty McAvoy, 15.Neil McGrath, 16.David Officer, 17.Stevie McDowell

Coagh United: Pollock, Allen, Thornton, Caldwerwood, Hawe, Park, Lamont, Reid, McCordick, McMenemy, Gardiner. Subs - Berry, Dallas, Cowden, Stoddart.

Comrades substitutions

Andy Simms (82')

Davy Officer (82')

Goals

Mark McClelland (66') pen

David Calderwood (88')

Comrades cards

Mark McClelland (79')

Comrades man of the match

Being voted for on the Ballyclare Comradee forum at irishleaguesupporters.com

A late goal conceded denied Comrades a win against Coagh United, which would surely have ended any relegation fears for Gordon Chambers’ side.

For this match the manager was able to call on defenders Lee Rushe and Stuart McCullough, missing from the midweek game against Donegal Celtic. He also reverted to a more usual 4-4-2 formation, with striker Ronnie Burns coming back into the starting line-up for midfielder Davy Officer.

The visitors, whose need for points was even more desperate than the home side’s, started the better and were the first to create chances. In the 10th minute a well struck free-kick from 22 yards by McCordick forced a diving save from Allen Huxley. Then, from the resulting corner, the ball was headed on to Lamont, who smacked a hooked volley from 8 yards against the bar.

Possession was fairly evenly balanced, but Coagh continued to look the more dangerous side early on. In the 18th minute Allen Huxley had to be alert again to save a McCordick shot from the edge of the box.

Comrades’ first real chance came on 20 minutes, when a Ronnie Burns cross from the left side of the penalty area was met by a thunderous Scott Irvine volley from the edge of the 6-yard box, which looked goalbound before deflecting off a defender and going just wide of the post.

The home side now were matching the visitors in an evenly fought contest. A couple of decent efforts were produced late on in the half. Firstly, on 39 minutes, Scott Irvine did well to win the ball and produce a shot from 22 yards, which went a few feet over the bar. Then, two minutes later, a great move saw, Andy Simms hit a piercing diagonal ball to find Scott Irvine, who headed perfectly back across into the path of a surging run through the middle from Stuart Galbraith. Unfortunately his difficult first-time effort from the edge of the box flew over the bar.

Coagh continued to create chances of their own and also had two late in the half. On 41 minutes, a good move ended with Lamont slipping the ball through to McCordick in the box and he shot from 9 yards out, only to be denied by a fine save from Huxley. Then, three minutes afterwards, McCordick again received the ball in the box, before making space for a shot from 11 yards, which forced another save from the Comrades keeper.

The second half started quietly, but gradually Comrades began to build some momentum and forced the pace more and more. In the 54th minute they had a good claim for a penalty turned down. Andy Simms surged past a defender and into the box, before getting to the ball a split second before the keeper, who appeared then to bring him down without touching the ball first. The referee, however, saw it differently and waved play on.

Two minutes later, as they continued to dominate attacking possession, Comrades wasted a great chance to take the lead. A superb diagonal ball from the left by Darren Munster found Scott Irvine in space and he advanced into the box before dragging his shot wide of the far post from 9 yards out.

In the 64th minute Comrades had another chance to open the scoring when a ball played into the Coagh box broke to Andy Simms near the penalty spot, but his resulting effort lacked the power to beat Pollock in the visitors’ goal.

It was not long, however, before the home side did make the breakthrough. It came from a penalty awarded in the 66th minute, when Lee Rushe was pulled back in the box by a Coagh defender. Leading scorer, Mark McClelland, took over spot-kick duties and proceeded to blast the ball confidently into the back of the net from a short run up.

Comrades now looked capable of sealing an important victory and they might have done so in the 72nd minute when Mark McClelland intercepted a poor back pass on the edge of the 6-yard box, before squaring the ball wide of the keeper, but there was no-one there to finish into an empty net.

As the game entered it final phase Comrades began to fall back rather nervously into defence and invite Coagh on. The visitors almost took advantage in the 81st minute when a great looping effort from 30 yards by Park had to be tipped over his bar at full stretch by Allen Huxley.

Just as it looked as if Comrades were going to get the win they needed, Coagh struck with an equaliser, two minutes from the end of normal time. A corner from the left was swung in to the back post area, where it was met by a powerful header by Calderwood, whose effort flew in just under the bar.

Even then, Comrades still had a great chance to take all three points. In the 90th minute, a ball over the top set Ronnie Burns clear to run into the box, but he found his resulting effort blocked by Pollock and the chance was snuffed out.

In the end, the draw was perhaps a fair result on the balance of play, but Comrades will be regretting some excellent chances missed in the second half, that could have brought all three points their way and taken some pressure off a very difficult final four games of the season, which includes matches against all three title contenders.