Tricky Ricky bags all three points
Editorial Department • Published 26 Jan 2012 13:00
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Keith McGowan and Neil Coulter battle for the ball at Drumad on Saturday.
Lisbellaw United 2; Ballinamallard Reserves 1;
Ricky Carroll swooped four minutes from time as Lisbellaw came from behind to take the points against Ballinamallard Reserves at Drumad on Saturday.
Jarno Glass had fired Ballinamallard into a half time lead but an in-form Carroll hit back to level matters inside the first minute of the second half and the same player then bagged all three points for James McGrath's outfit when he directed a Paul McGrath pass beyond Mallards goalkeeper Matthew Quinn to secure the points.
McGrath accepts that his side were not at their best on Saturday but he states that the important thing was to win the game.
"It was a very important three points for us, especially as we had to come from behind to win. We stuttered along in the first half but we managed to lift it a bit after half time although we didn't play nearly as well as we did against Beragh," he said.
The first half was a scrappy affair with little in the way of goal mouth action. However, it was Ballinamallard who posed the greater threat with Stephen Jackson in the Lisbellaw goals making a good save from an Aaron Coulter header. And the away side were to grab the lead through striker Glass. Stephen Chambers played the ball forward and when it was misjudged by Lisbellaw, Glass latched on to it before lifting it over Jackson for 1-0.
The remainder of the half saw the sides cancel each other out with neither Jackson or Quinn having to make a save as the Mallards went in at the break with the one goal advantage.
The second half though was a much better affair with the pace of the contest increasing and Lisbellaw struck right from the restart to level up proceedings.
They moved the ball down the left from the kick off and Crilly broke into the box before squaring to Ricky Carroll who confidently slotted home for 1-1.
Boosted by this, Lisbellaw went on to enjoy a good spell as they pinned Ballinamallard back but they never tested Quinn and with Aaron Coulter and Neil Coutler solid at the centre of the Mallards defence the away side managed to ride out the storm.
Indeed, the Mallards started to pose a threat of their own with Darren Higginbotham looking lively in attack.
Higginbotham fired over a great cross and it took a crucial headed clearance from Ian Veitch to avert the danger as Ryan Smyth looked set to pounce. Michael Kerr then lined up a volley and on this occasion Kyle McCleery bravely blocked.
The second half saw the game open up and Lisbellaw pressed forward in search of a winner. Matthew Keenan fired wide after a neat build up but just when the game looked set to end in a draw, up popped the home side with the clincher.
A flowing move saw the ball played out to Paul McGrath on the right and he drilled the ball across goal for Carroll to register his, and Lisbellaw's second of the game.
Ballinamallard piled forward after the goal as they went looking for an equaliser and instead they nearly got caught for a third when substitute Niall Cassidy tucked away an Alan Veitch ball but this was ruled out for offside.
This though was to have no bearing on the outcome as Lisbellaw saw out the remainder of the contest to claim the points.
Ballinamallard player/manager Neil Coutler felt his side were unlucky to come away from the game empty handed.
"I thought if we could have weathered the storm at the start of the second half without conceding we would have gone on to win the game. I thought we worked tirelessly throughout and we played well so it was disappointing not to get anything out of it. We have another big game this week when we are away to Town and hopefully if we can get the same performance and effort we can get a positive result," said Coulter.
This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 26 Jan 12
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