Author: Scott

We invite Queen’s University to Dixon Park tomorrow evening in the first round of the ToalsBet.com County Antrim Shield.

Match Info

When: Tuesday 21^st September – Kick-Off 7:45pm

Where: Dixon Park

What: ToalsBet.com County Antrim Shield Round 1

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

A reminder to season ticket holders that season tickets are not valid for cup games.

Match & Ball Sponsor: Dominos, Ballyclare

The Opponents

Queen’s University’s bad start to the season continued on Saturday with a 3-1 defeat away to Dergview. That’s now 7 defeats in their opening 8 games in the Lough 41 Championship for the Students. However, the Comrades have faced up against Peter Thompson’s men twice already this season and know from the close encounters of both games, that Tuesday evening will be anything but easy.

The Comrades

The Comrades come into the game following a 1-0 victory over early league leaders, Newry City, on Saturday. Newry started the better of the sides and were on top for most of the first half as Comrades struggled to put anything together. However, the visitors were largely kept at bay by the home defence and struggled to create chances despite having most of the possession. The second half, however, was a different story and Comrades were on the front-foot. Gary Donnelly got the only goal of the game in the 52^nd minute. It all started with Joe Tully beautifully controlling a high ball. He then set Tom Mathieson free to run to the edge of the box and send in a teasing ball which Donnelly made contact with, sending it goalward from six yards. Despite the ‘keeper’s effort to claw the ball away it crossed the line, quickly confirmed by the referee’s assistant. The hosts were able to see out the rest of the game to seal an important win. Ian Fletcher took a nasty knock to the head during Saturday’s game and had to go to A&E for stitches, while Howard Beverland also departed the field early as a precautionary measure for a tight hamstring. After a quick turnaround from Saturday, Harbinson may well look to shuffle his deck for Tuesday night’s cup tie.

Last Time Out

You have to go the whole way back to last week for the last time the Comrades and Queen’s faced up against each other. Comrades came away with all three points in the Lough 41 Championship after a hard-fought 3-1 win over Queen’s at The Dub. Paul Harbinson’s men started the better of the sides and bossed the first 15 minutes. However, the only effort of note during this period was in the 11th minute when Adam Gray produced a good turn and shot from 22 yards which went narrowly wide of the post. The rest of the first half was evenly balanced, with defences generally on top despite enterprising attacking play from both teams. As the game moved into its final quarter it looked like it might be heading for stalemate, and it took a wonderful goal on 72 minutes to break the stalemate, with Liam McKenna producing a lovely curler from 25 yards which dipped over the ‘keeper and just under the bar. The game now opened up for an exciting finish and Comrades doubled their lead in the 79th minute. A good run down the middle from Adam Gray discomforted the home defence and the ball broke to Ciaran Heggarty who cut into the right side of the box and struck a great effort wide of the ‘keeper into the top corner of the net from 17 yards. Five minutes later, the travelling supporters hopes of a stress-free end to the game were dented when Queen’s pulled a goal back. A ball played into the box caused danger and it broke to Clarke who rifled a shot into the net from 12 yards. After a nervous period with the hosts pressing, Comrades sealed the victory a minute into injury-time. Adam Gray did well to get into the box on the by-line and was tripped by a defender, leading to the award of a penalty. Gray stepped up himself to take the spot-kick, but his effort was blocked by ‘keeper Devine. However, Andrew Mooney was first to the loose ball, firing it into the roof of the net from the edge of the 6-yard box.

We invite Newry City to Dixon Park tomorrow afternoon in our next Lough 41 Championship fixture.

Match Info

When: Saturday 18^th September – Kick-Off 3:00pm

Where: Dixon Park

What: Lough 41 Championship

Entry: Pay at the gate – £8 (Adult) / £5 (Concession) (U12 free entry with paying adult)

Match sponsor: Agnew Mitchell & Cairns Accountants

Ball sponsor: Jenkins Butchers – Main Street, Ballyclare & Station Road, Doagh

The Opponents

Newry have been flying since the start of the season and currently top the Lough 41 Championship. They had a 100% record with 6 wins in their opening 6 games and only dropped their first points in the league last Saturday to Ballinamallard United, who brought Newry’s winning run to an end with a 3-0 victory over Darren Mullen’s men. Newry were in league cup action as well this week, where they were put out by a 2-1 defeat to premiership side, Warrenpoint Town. Brian Healy opened the scoring for Newry City with two minutes on the clock but this was cancelled out by Warrenpoint with a clinical finish into the bottom left corner just after the half-hour mark. After the break, Newry had the ball in the net with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining although this was ruled out offside. It took Warrenpoint’s Greg Moorhouse’s 101st minute diving header from Kealan Dillon’s cross to the back post to separate the sides and send Newry City out of the cup. With 2 defeats in their last 2 outings, Darren Mullen will be looking a reaction from his players at Dixon Park.

The Comrades

Paul Harbinson’s men come into the game after being on the wrong end of a 4-0 result on Tuesday night against Linfield. Despite the heavy defeat, Harbinson was in positive spirits following the game, praising his side’s “hard-work, ethic and working for each other”. The manager has challenged his squad to “stay concentrated for 90 minutes at Championship level every week” in the same manner that he seen his side concentrate for large spells against Linfield. On the upcoming Newry game, Harbinson said “There’s no easy game, as we’ve proven already, just as everyone has proven, everyone is taking points off everyone so we’ve just got to see can we focus and can we concentrate, and if we do that, that’s progress and we’ll be happy with that.”. Tuesday night also saw Matthew Herron make his competitive debut for the club while Eoghan Devine made his first completive start. Adam McCart also made his return to the starting lineup following a lengthy spell away from football and Adam Gray came off the bench to make his 200^th appearance for the Comrades.

Last Time Out

Boxing Day 2019 was the last time these two sides met as The Comrades and Newry City battled to a share of the Boxing Day spoils in an evenly contested encounter at Dixon Park. Newry opened the scoring a minute from the break with Kevin McArdle who cut inside from the right to beat McCauley at the near post with the ball initially striking the upright before going in off the keeper. The visitors might have doubled their lead just after the hour but John Boyle headed off the crossbar from around six yards out before Stefan Lavery fired just past the far post soon after. For Ballyclare, substitute Joe Tully directed a header on target from a Ciaran Dobbin free kick, but Lewis Hunter did well to make the save. However, Tully went one better with eight minutes remaining; after being upended inside the area he kept his composure to step up to calmly beat the Newry keeper from the spot. The Comrades might have secured the points in the closing minutes when Adam Gray struck the post from 20 yards but Lukasz Adamczyk was unable to keep the rebound on target and the game finished 1-1.

We invite Danske Bank Premiership Champions Linfield to Dixon Park tomorrow evening in the 2nd round of the Bet McLean League Cup.

Match Info

When: Tuesday 14^th September – Kick-Off 7:45pm

Where: Dixon Park

What: Bet McLean League Cup 2nd Round

Entry: Pay at the gate – £8 (adult) / £5 (concession) (U12 free entry with paying adult)

A reminder to season ticket holders that season tickets are not valid for cup games.

All supporters should be aware that there will be a strict gate policy; anyone leaving the ground during the game (including at half time) will not be able to get back into the ground.

Match Sponsor: Simpson Developments

Ball Sponsor: Ballyclare Fuels

The Opponents

Linfield come to Dixon Park following a 3-2 victory over Portadown in the Danske Bank Premiership at the weekend. They had to twice come from behind as Portadown led 2-1 at the break. Back came Linfield, however, on 67 minutes with Matt Green’s first goal for the club after he met Kirk Millar’s cross to turn it beyond Doherty. It then fell to Manzinga to claim the win for the visitors with five minutes to go when he got past a defender before unleashing a powerful drive into the net to grab his second of the game. The Blues have only played two league games with games being called off due to players away on international duty.

The Comrades

The Comrades got back to winning ways on Saturday with a 3-1 victory away to Queen’s University in the Lough 41 Championship. Three goals in the final 20 minutes helped Paul Harbinson’s men overcome the Students at the Dub. Liam McKenna once again popped up with the goods as he broke the deadlock with a 25-yard drive into the top corner. Ciaran Heggarty got his first league goal for the club just seven minutes later when the ball was slipped through to him and he confidently put the ball into the roof of the net. The students did pull one back before Ballyclare restored their two-goal cushion in stoppage time when Andrew Mooney knocked home the rebound after Adam Gray saw his initial penalty saved. Speaking on the upcoming game, Comrades skipper, Chris Ramsey said “It’s going to be a tough game. Linfield are the best team in the country, they’ve proved that over the last load of years and it’ll be tough for us. But we go into it with no pressure on us, we just have to go out and work hard and listen to how we’re being told to set up and if we stick to our shape, hopefully we can pull-off a bit of a surprise result.”

Last Time Out

The last time these two sides met in a competitive fixture was in the Irish Cup 5th Round in January 2019. A second-half goal from former Comrades player, Joel Cooper, was the only difference between the two sides on the day as Linfield progressed to the next round with a 1-0 victory at Windsor Park. Due to some heroic defending, the Comrades made it in at the break with the scores level at 0-0. Early in the second-half, Adam Gray had Ballyclare’s best chance of the game as a powerful shot from outside the box had Linfield ‘keeper, Roy Carroll, scrambling; the experienced international ‘keeper eventually got the ball under control though after his initial save bounced back into danger. Linfield’s persistence paid off as Casement’s deflected cross found the head of Andy Waterworth who flicked it on to Cooper and he headed in. The game finished 1-0 and Linfield progressed to the 6th round where they would face Crusaders.