Comrades continue winning streak
Comrades secured their third win on the trot as they continued to climb the Championship table with a win at Dixon Park against Newry City.
After a quiet start to the game, it was Newry who created the first chance. It came on 13 minutes when a swift attack up the right side ended with a low ball being played into the box to McNickle. He shot on target from a central position only to be denied by a super save from Gerard Walker who turned the ball wide of the post.
There was little more in the way of goalmouth action until the 25th minute when a deep cross into the box by the visitors was met by an overhead kick from Ball, but his effort went wide of the goal.
Comrades had been struggling to get into the game and Newry had looked the more likely side to make the breakthrough. However, that changed on 33 minutes with the hosts taking the lead. Michael Morgan slid a quality through ball perfectly into the run of Darius Roohi which beat the offside trap, allowing him to run free of the Newry defence. Mitchell came out of his goal to force Roohi wide, but the striker still had the composure to strike the ball into the net from six yards out.
Comrades’ confidence grew with this goal, and they looked the more threatening side for the rest of the first half. They were able to double their lead before the break when in the 43rd minute a free kick whipped in dangerously from just outside the corner of the box by Caolán Donnelly was met by the slightest touch from Darius Roohi, which sent the ball inside the post past the helpless ‘keeper. A lot of the crowd thought the ball had gone straight in from the free kick but with his touch the goal was rightly accredited to Roohi.
The second half began in great fashion for the hosts, as within three minutes of the restart they had another goal. Michael Morgan was again the provider. This time he left an opponent for dead on the right wing and advanced to the by-line before cutting the ball back across the box, avoiding defenders and finding Liam Hassin who was able to take a touch before finishing into the unguarded net at the back post.
This should have put the result beyond doubt, but Newry quickly came back with a goal to reduce the deficit when on 51 minutes Carroll powered home a header from a McCaffrey cross.
The visitors now had hope and produced a dangerous spell of attacking. They came close on a couple of occasions during this period to pulling another goal back. In the 57th minute a teasing corner whipped across the six-yard box eluded the touch of Newry players until it reached the back post where O’Brien got to it, but he had run out of room to get an effort on goal. Then, three minutes later, a great ball played across the box by Forde once again somehow wasn’t met with a finishing touch.
At this stage it looked as if Comrades might need a fourth goal to secure the win and they had a great opportunity to get this on 65 minutes. Michael Morgan, having a superb game, stole the ball from an opponent just inside the Newry half and ran forward, outmuscling a defender, to get into the box where he was brought down for a clear penalty. The referee pointed to the spot and Darius Roohi stepped up to take it. However, he was denied a hat-trick as Mitchell got down well to save inside the post.
The game now flowed from end to end as the weather deteriorated, and heavy rain began to fall. In the 70thminute the hosts came close when Caolán Donnelly did well to make space for a shot from 20 yards, but his curling effort went narrowly over the angle of bar and post.
Then, on 72 minutes, there was a let off for the home side as Salley saw his seemingly goal-bound shot from inside a packed box hit his strike partner McNickle and rebound out to safety.
As the game entered its latter stages Comrades began to assert some control and Newry’s attacking threat started to fizzle out. Indeed, Stephen Small’s men looked like they could put the result to bed with a further goal. They came close on 73 minutes when the outstanding Michael Morgan beautifully controlled a high ball as it dropped just inside the Newry half, before striding forward, shrugging off a challenge and getting in a well-struck shot from inside the box which ‘keeper Mitchell did well to block.
Newry put a final spell of attacks together in the final minutes of the match. However, the Comrades defence held firm to secure the three points.
Many thanks to the match sponsor for this game, Richard Greer Car and to the ball sponsor, Red Mills Dogs Food supplied by Ballyclare Fuels.
