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Rampant Linfield hammer Comrades

Thursday, 19 January 2012

Rampant Linfield hammer Comrades thumbnail Aaron Montgomery challenges Rory Patterson SE0311

Linfield 7, Ballyclare Comrades 1: DESPITE taking a shock lead, Comrades' big day out at Windsor Park in the Irish Cup ended with them being on the end of a footballing lesson from a rampant Linfield side.
With Anthony Hill and Stuart McCullough not fully fit, manager Eddie Hill had to make change to his defence, with new signing Aaron Montgomery coming in at left-back and Lee Rushe starting at centre-back. Joint-top scorer Ricky Higgins was still out with a toe injury, but with the manager opting for a 4-5-1 formation to start with, Simon McGowan came in as the extra midfielder.
Comrades came under pressure straight away. In the 2nd minute the Blues came close when Garrett's inswinging free-kick was met by the head of Murphy, but Paddy Flood did well to get down low to save the effort.
The visitors were defending valiantly, if at times rather desperately. On 14 minutes, Aaron Burns' free-kick from just outside the box on the right found the head of Thompson, but the prolific striker headed wide from a good position six yards out.
Comrades attacking opportunities were rare, but on 22 minutes they took a surprise lead. A free-kick was won 25 yards out on the right, and Andrew Simms whipped it towards goal, where it was fumbled out by keeper Addis and then gleefully snapped up by Mark McClelland, who fired the ball in from close range.
Comrades' travelling fans were ecstatic, but their joy was to be short-lived, as the goal prompted Linfield into a flurry of attacking, which soon brought them an equaliser. In the 29th minute Aaron Burns' corner from the left was met by the head of Lowry, who made no mistake from three yards, despite Paddy Flood getting a touch to the powerful effort.
Lowry almost scored again on 31 minutes, but his header rattled the post following a Garrett corner. Then, a minute later, an Aaron Burns cross from the right eluded Flood and fell to the back post, where Murphy looked certain to score from close range, only to be denied by a miraculous block from Craig Reid on the line.
Comrades were hanging on by their fingertips and on 33 minutes Eddie Hill changed the formation with striker Ricky Moore replacing veteran midfielder Stuart Galbraith. However this did little to change the flow of the game and Linfield's constant pressure continued. On 34 minutes they took the lead when Garrett's corner was glanced on by Murphy and Thompson got the final headed touch from 5 yards to take the ball beyond Paddy Flood into the back of the net.
On 41 minutes it was 3-1. Patterson played in striker partner and fellow full international Thompson on the right and cut the ball back for Lowry, who made no mistake from inside the six-yard box, grabbing his second of the afternoon.
There was yet more torture for Comrades before half-time. A minute into stoppage time Linfield got a fourth. Patterson's attempted flick inside the box was adjudged to have come off the arm of Keith Armstrong and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Patterson then stepped up to calmly slot the ball past Paddy Flood into the back of the net.
If Comrades fans hoped that Linfield would take their foot of the pedal in the second half they were to be disappointed, as the home side continued to show their class and attack the beleaguered visitors' defence at every opportunity. On 51 minutes Patterson played the ball in from the left giving Lowry a great opportunity to net his hat-trick, but he was denied by a great save from Paddy Flood, who kept out his six yard shot.
However the Blues soon made it five. On 54 minutes Thompson found himself in acres of space inside the box before firing against the crossbar. The ball rebounded out to the striker and he calmly volleyed home from 12 yards.
Still Linfield's attacking did not relent and on 61 minutes they went 6-1 in front. Patterson received the ball on the right of the box before cutting inside and finishing delightfully with the outside of his right foot.
Despite being under the cosh for most of the game Comrades never threw in the towel and tried to go forward when possible. On 66 minutes they had a rare sight of goal when a through ball found Ricky Moore in a bit of space, but his resulting effort from 16 yards went too close to Addis, who saved comfortably. The home side rounded off the scoring on 75 minutes when Patterson capped a superb display by getting his hat-trick. A Linfield corner was half cleared to the edge of the box and the striker took one touch to control the ball before hitting a spectacular right footed volley into the top right hand corner of the net.
Comrades managed to see out the rest of the game without shipping any more goals and the final whistle was welcome to the travelling supporters, who stayed to clap their valiant, but ultimately outclassed, team off the pitch.
This was always going to be a very tough assignment for Comrades and they could only hope that Linfield might have had an off-day. That certainly wasn't the case, but ultimately the most important thing this season is for the side to win promotion, so they can now put their Irish Cup adventure aside and concentrate on getting vital league points.
Comrades' next game is a Championship 2 contest at home to fellow promotion contenders Queen's University on Saturday 21st January, 3pm kick-off.
Ballyclare Comrades team: Paddy Flood, Craig Reid, Glenn Pierce, Lee Rushe, Aaron Montgomery, Scott Irvine, Keith Armstrong, Stuart Galbraith, Simon McGowan, Andrew Simms, Mark McClelland. Subs: Ricky Moore (33 mins for Galbraith), Johnny McClurg (62 mins for McGowan), Stephen McDowell (67 mins for Irvine), Anthony Hill (not used), Stuart McCullough (not used).