Coach warns that teams should not be forced to play in extreme weather

Ballymena Utd Reserves faced Glenavon Reserves on the Showgrounds with a gale force wind blowing straight down the pitch.
Ballymena United.Ballymena United.
Ballymena United.

United struggled for most of the first half despite having the wind at their backs and a resolute young Glenavon side restricted them to very few chances.

In the 38th minute Michael Ruddy scored to give United the lead but only a few minutes later Glenavon equalised when after some sloppy play, a freekick was deflected past Kyle Rowe in Ballymena’s goal.

As conditions deteriorated in the second half the match became a lottery,the ball struggling to stay in play for large parts of the game.

Glenavon took the lead when Alan Davidson lost the ball on the edge of his own box and a volley from 20 yards flew into Ballymena’s goal.

A bizarre third goal for the Lurgan side came from the boot of goalkeeper John Connolly ,a long wind assisted clearance sailing over the stranded Kyle Rowe ,going straight into the net.

Thomas Robinson scored a fine solo goal to set up a tense finish but United wasted several chances the biggest culprits being James McCabe and Peter Duffin and Glenavon held on to win the game.

Team: Rowe; Harris; Gardiner; Graham; Ruddy; E Gillan; Davidson; C Gillan; McCabe; Duffin; Robinson.

Subs: Crawford,Black,Millar,Foster,Stuart.

David Dorrian: “We should not make the young players play in those conditions,it defeats the purpose of everything we work at in training and the result comes down to one goalkeeper being able to kick it farther than the other.”

Related topics: