We travel to Darragh Park tomorrow afternoon to take on Dergview in our next Lough 41 Championship fixture.
Match Info
When: Saturday 2nd October – Kick-Off 3:00pm
Where: Darragh Park
What: Lough 41 Championship
Entry: Pay at the gate – £8 (Adult) / £5 (Concession)
The Opponents
Dergview currently sit 9th in the Lough 41 Championship, 5 points behind the Comrades in 5th. They go into tomorrow’s game following a 3-2 defeat away to Knockbreda last Saturday. Goals from Benny Igiehon and Cathal Farren in the second half threatened to undo Knockbreda’s 3-0 lead from the first half but the hosts were able to hold out. Dergview have only been beaten once at home this season, a 2-0 defeat to Newry City, and recently took Danske Bank Premiership side, Carrick Rangers, to extra time in the Bet McLean League Cup. Manager, Tommy Canning, will be looking for a reaction from his side following last week’s defeat.
The Comrades
The Comrades go to Darragh Park following last week’s disappointing 3-0 defeat away to Ards. After a somewhat cautious start to the game at both ends, it fell to Patrick Cafolla to open the scoring just before the half-hour mark when he found the top corner from around 20 yards from goal. Ards then doubled their advantage on 43 minutes through Ross Arthurs to take a commanding lead into the break. Andrew Mooney came closest in the second half for the Comrades when he rattled the crossbar. However, Calvin McCurry made sure of the points for Ards four minutes from time. Paul Harbinson made no excuses following the game and said his side were poor and must improve on consistency. Speaking on tomorrow’s trip away to Dergview, Paul Harbinson said “We’re going to have to go and work hard on our competition as Dergview have been playing fantastic football, in the middle of the park they dominate, and we didn’t do that tonight (against Ards) and haven’t done that for a while. We need to question ourselves and look at what we do next”.
Last Time Out
January 2020 was the last time these two sides met in the Championship. Two quickfire goals were enough for the Comrades to get the better of Dergview at Dixon Park. The sides traded chances during the opening phases with Joe Tully dragging an effort wide for Ballyclare while Paul Smith just failed to hit the target for the visitors. Dergview keeper, Alan Buchanan, was then called into action to turn a Gary Donnelly shot around the upright while Jordan Malone headed just over later in the first half. Ciaran Dobbin came closest early in the second half when his header from a Donnelly corner was touched onto the crossbar. But, on 57 minutes, the Comrades eventually found a way through when Donnelly dinked Buchanan from eight yards after connecting with a Tully through ball. And, around sixty seconds later, it was 2-0 when Tully got his name on the scoresheet with a 20-yard drive. Dergview attempted to hit back; Emmett McNabb fired just wide from six yards while Smith was denied by Ben McCauley. The home keeper came to Ballyclare’s rescue again in the closing moments to thwart Smith again, but Dobbin almost added a third for the home side in stoppage time when his effort came off the keeper and onto the bar.
