Comrades suffered a humiliating defeat at home to the Welders after shipping goals at an alarming rate.

The hosts had the first effort on goal inside two minutes with Michael Morgan testing Agnew with a curling effort from the edge of the area which the ‘keeper was well positioned to save. Two minutes later Welders hit the front. A defensive mix up in the box, when the ball should have been cleared, allowed O’Connor the simple task of knocking in from close range.

The hosts reacted to this early setback. In the ninth minute Cillin Gilmour saw the ‘keeper off his line as he took a free kick just inside the Welders half and tried an audacious effort which went just wide of the unguarded goal. On 11 minutes Comrades created a great chance to level the scores. Michael Morgan surged into the box and delivered a great ball to the far post where Darius Roohi was arriving. Unfortunately for the striker he had to stretch to reach the ball, and his effort went over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

At the other end, the visitors posed a constant threat to a nervous Comrades defence. In the 19^th minute they scored a second goal. Kee struck a shot from inside the box which was kept out by a good save from debutant ‘keeper Adam Ritchie. However, the ball broke out to Doyle who made no mistake, firing in through the crowded box.

Comrades attempted to get back into the game. On 24 minutes Liam Hassin pulled the ball back from the byline to Darius Roohi who made space for shot from the edge of the area, but his effort went over the bar. In the 27^th minute the home side pulled a goal back. Michael Morgan ran at the visitors’ defence and played the ball to Darius Roohi in the box. Roohi played it into the six-yard box where Morgan slid in to provide the finish.

A minute later Comrades came close to a leveller. Darius Roohi got past a defender on the right side of the box before playing the ball to the far post area where Michael Morgan met it with a scissor-kick which went just over the bar. Soon though the wind was taken from the hosts’ sails as Welders got a third goal. On 31 minutes McCoubrey’s corner was headed in by Doyle, exposing Comrades frailty from set-pieces. Three minutes passed before the visitors added to their tally. The hosts again failed to clear the ball from their box allowing Dylan O’Kane to blast it in past the helpless ‘keeper.

The first half goal avalanche continued in the 36^th minute. Darius Roohi and Michael Morgan again linked up effectively, with Roohi breaking forward from halfway and delivering a perfectly weighted ball across to Morgan who ran in one on one with the ‘keeper. Agnew initially blocked Morgan’s effort inside the box, but the ball fell back to the Comrades man who slotted it into the empty net.

A minute into first half stoppage time Welders almost had a fifth goal but were denied as Adam Ritchie made a brilliant save from an O’Connor close range effort.

Comrades went in at half-time still hanging on to a chance of getting something from the game, largely thanks to the work of their strikers. Five minutes into the second half they had a good chance to reduce the deficit to one goal. Lee McGreevy played a deft through ball to find the run of Liam Hassin who surged through from the halfway line. As a chasing defender tried to catch him, Hassin shot from just outside the box, but his effort was blocked by the advancing ‘keeper. At the other end Welders continued to look capable of scoring with almost every attack. In the 54^th minute O’Connor won a physical battle in the box and got in a shot which was deflected just wide of the target. From the resulting corner the same player saw his header tipped onto the bar by ‘keeper Ritchie. The young Comrades ‘keeper was overworked and again had to make a good save on 62 minutes to deny O’Connor as he shot from a good position inside the area.

Hope for a Comrades recovery was snuffed out in the 68^th minute when Dylan O’Kane hit a superb strike from 30 yards which flew into the top corner of the net. From this point it was a matter of how many the visitors would score as Comrades heads dropped. Two minutes later the visitors scored a sixth goal. A ball dinked over the Comrades backline set Doyle free and he made no mistake with a finish from inside the area to complete his hat-trick. In the 73^rd minute Welders scored their third goal in a devasting five-minute spell. This time Parkhouse got on the end of a great ball across goal to make a simple finish.

Comrades came close to reducing the deficit on 76 minutes as Michael Morgan shot past the advancing ‘keeper from the edge of the box, but a defender got back to clear the ball off the line to deny the Morgan his third goal. On 80 minutes the hosts were grateful for another fine save from Adam Ritchie as he kept out a close-range follow-up effort from Parkhouse after a free kick had been smashed against the bar. Parkhouse then should have done better in the 84^th minute, as with only the ‘keeper to beat he dragged his shot wide from 14 yards.

The final whistle came as a relief to the shellshocked home supporters who had witnessed a disastrous defensive display from their team.

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