KILDRUM TIGERS BOOKED A place in the last 16 of the Northern Ireland Cup thanks to a dramatic shoot-out win over Ballinamallard this afternoon.
Kildrum Tigers 2-2 Ballinamallard
After extra time. Kildrum win 4-2 on penalties
The game started at a frantic pace Kildrum slightly on top having lots of the ball but not creating much.
Ballinamallard came fighting back as expected but, Kildrum took the lead when, after a couple of nice interchanges out-wide between Shane Coyle and Shane Monaghan, James Kernan hit a pop shot which took a slight deflection to loop the ball over the ‘keeper.
Kildrum were well on top, again getting most of the joy from the wide positions through Monaghan and Corey McBride-Gillen.
The St Johnston side almost went two up when Shane Coyle met the ball with a delicate flick which looked destinated for the bottom corner but the covering defender managed to hook clear.
From the corner, CJ Clarke’s sweet volley just missed the target.
Ballinamallard keep back roaring and got there rewards with a sweetly struck shot from 25 yards out which left Declan Dolan in the Kildrum nets no hope.
Ten minutes before the interval Ballinamallard took the lead from a bit of sloppy play around the midfield and left side the ball got switched to the right leaving the on rushing striker with the goal in sight campy finishing the ball low into the far bottom corner.
With 12 minutes left Kildrum broke at a frantic pace, which resulted in Kernan slipping Monaghan in down the right. One-on-one with the keeper, Monaghan coolly slotted low and hard into the far bottom,
Extra time was nervy for both sides with no-one wanting to be the villain.
Kildrum thought their time had come when Kernan picked the ball up in midfield before unleashing a fantastic effort to the keeper’s right, but the netminder pulled off a fantastic save to keep the match at a draw.
Video below courtesy of Aaron Coyle
In the shoot-out, Dolan made one superb save and with goals from Anton Murtagh, Kernan, McBride-Gillen and Monaghan won the day and handed them a famous win.
“It’s a fantastic win for the boys,” said Shane Porter, the Kildrum manager.
“We’ve been asking the boys to stand up and be counted and today they certainly did. They were all outstanding.
“We’ve asked the boys for a great effort and have been working incredibly hard the last couple of weeks and days like today makes it all worth while.
“We have quite a large squad but we have always promised to use the squad. For example today Auryn Coyle was unfortunate not to start but came on in the second half and was absolutely fantastic.
“This victory keeps us ticking over now for the rest of pre-season and hopefully it will gear us up for another big season in the D&D.”
Kildrum Tigers: Declan Dolan, Shane McDermott, Aaron O’Donnell, Adam Callaghan (Auryn Coyle), CJ Clarke, Anton Murtagh, Ryan McCarron, Shane Coyle, Shane Monaghan, Corey McBride-Gillen, James Kernan
Tags: