Pre-Match Guide | Dundela 3/12/21
We travel to Wilgar Park tomorrow evening to take on Dundela in our next Lough 41 Championship fixture.
Match Info
When: Friday 3rd December – Kick-Off 7:45pm
Where: Wilgar Park
What: Lough 41 Championship
Entry: Pay at the gate – £8 (Adult) / £5 (Concession)
The Opponents
Dundela currently occupy 11th spot in the Lough 41 Championship. Last week, they battled to an equal share of the goals against Newry City in difficult conditions at a blustery Wilgar Park. James Teelan opened the scoring for Newry after eight minutes. He got on the end of a touch forward to flick the ball past Kyle Owens and beat Marc Matthews with a near post right foot finish. The Duns levelled almost immediately, however, through Guillaume Keke with a half volley from point blank range after a Tony Kane free-kick from wide on the right had been knocked on inside the box. And the frantic start continued with a quarter-of-an-hour on the clock when Johnny Taylor fired the home side into the lead from another Kane set piece, a corner on this occasion, after the ball fell loose from Jay Magee’s initial header had been well kept out by Steven Maguire. That was how it stayed until four minutes from the hour when Darren King levelled for Newry to ultimately secure a share of the spoils.
The Comrades
Last week, the Comrades staged a late comeback to recover a two-goal deficit and salvage a point from HW Welders at Blanchflower Park. The Welders moved in front on 38 minutes through Alan McMurtry who smashed the ball home from eight yards after receiving a low cross from the left. Josh Boyd doubled the home advantage on 67 minutes with a back post finish when the ball was played across the box into his path. But Ballyclare pulled a goal back just five minutes after that through Liam Hassin with a 25-yard effort into the top corner after a set piece was only partially cleared. And the Comrades secured a point with four minutes left on the clock when Matthew Herron found the net from Tom Mathieson’s cross. The draw keeps the Comrades in 7th spot in the Lough 41 Championship on 27 points.
Last Time Out
The last time these two sides met at the beginning of October, Ballyclare Comrades defeated Dundela by a single first half goal at Dixon Park. The Comrades crafted the first chance of the night after nine minutes when Chris Ramsey sent a header from a Liam McKenna corner onto the crossbar before the ball fell to safety. What proved to be the winner came with just over a quarter-of-an-hour on the clock after a mix-up in the Dundela defence allowed Andy Mooney to set up McKenna to score from a tap in. The rest of the game was an entertaining, end to end encounter but Ballyclare held on to secure all three points although keeper Richard Purcell had to be alert in the closing minutes to thwart a header from Guillaume Keke as the visitors searched for an equaliser.
