We welcome Annagh United to Dixon Park tomorrow afternoon in our next Lough 41 Championship fixture.

Match Info

When: Saturday 1^st January – Kick-Off 3:00pm

Where: Dixon Park

What: Lough 41 Championship

Entry: Pay at the gate – £8 (Adult) / £5 (Concession)

Match Sponsor – Agnew, Mitchell & Cairns Accountants

Ball Sponsor – Ross’s Joint

The Opponents

Annagh United have been flying recently and currently occupy 2^nd spot in the Lough 41 Championship table. Their fixture at the beginning of the week vs Loughgall had to be postponed in line with the NIFL’s covid case policy. The last time Annagh played was away to Dundela on 18^th December where Stephen Murray bagged both goals as Annagh United brought Dundela’s recent good run of form to a halt at Wilgar Park. Scoreless at the break, Murray opened the scoring with just over a quarter-of-an-hour remaining when he ran onto Peter Duffin’s pass to slot past Marc Matthews. Then, with three minutes remaining, Murray brought his tally for the season to nine goals to complete the scoring.

The Comrades

The Comrades put an end to their long run without a league win with a victory against league leaders Newry City on a foggy day in the border town on Monday. After an even opening period when Comrades were able to get forward on a number of occasions, the hosts began to dominate possession, although they were largely frustrated in the first half by some resolute defending from the visitors. In the 37th minute the visitors stunned the large holiday home crowd with a superb goal to take the lead. Lee McCune surged forward from left-back and then played a ball across which deflected into the path of Ciaran Heggarty. The young striker had his back to goal 25 yards out but produced a wonderful turn and shot which saw the ball dip over the outstretched hand of the ‘keeper and under the bar. The second half saw the Comrades defend well all over the pitch as they proved very difficult to break down and the visitors held out gallantly in the final minutes to secure a morale-boosting win and send the travelling supporters home happy. The result keeps the Comrades in 8^th position in the Lough 41 Championship table as they chase the tight pack above. Speaking on tomorrow’s upcoming fixture, manager Paul Harbinson said “They (Annagh) are flying again. We’ll focus and prepare and fingers crossed we’ll get another result”.

Last Time Out

The last time these two sides met was back in October when the Comrades came away from the BMG Arena with a 4-1 victory. Liam Hassin opened the scoring for the visitors as early as the sixth minute after Andrew Mooney had done well to tee him up. Mooney got on the scoresheet himself on 19 minutes with a close range finish after a Gary Donnelly caused confusion in the home defence. Annagh pulled one back midway through the first half when unfortunate Comrades defender Ashton McDermott headed the ball into his own net whilst attempting to clear Lee Upton’s flick from Craig Taylor’s long throw into the box. However the Comrades restored their two goal lead just after the hour through Ian Fletcher before, with four minutes remaining, Ciaran Heggarty added a fourth from six yards after Hassin knocked the ball into his path.