FOOTBALL: Ballymena and Provincial League review

Just a handful of games survived the deluge, but they certainly served up plenty of goals.

Ballynure Old Boys ‘B’ hit double figures as they thumped Moyola Park 10-0 on their own patch. The game, played on the 3g pitch at Mill Meadow, saw Ballynure go in at half-time five goals to the good.

Moyola never really got going and conceded another five in the second half. Paul McIntyre (two), Daniel Ellis (three), Robert Watson (three), Josh McIlroy and Jonathan Kane were all on target for Ballynure.

At the Ballymena Showgrounds, Wakehurst Strollers were 5-0 winners over Brantwood Reserves.

It was a big win for the Strollers who started the game a point ahead of Brantwood in the league table.

Both teams played it very tight on the fast 3g surface at the start, but Lee McClelland’s 28th-minute penalty put the hosts in front. Brantwood battled to get a foothold in the game but the Strollers doubled their advantage on the hour when Andrew Miller found the net.

When John Alexander landed number three, the game was up for the Belfast men. Peter Adams and George Young completed the scoring on the day.

Junior Division Three League leaders 3rd Ballyclare Old Boys eased to a comfortable 4-0 win over third-from-bottom Carnlough Swifts.

The victory puts Ballyclare six points clear of closest rivals Carrick Thistle and their defensive record of just five goals conceded in 10 outings suggests they will be the team to catch in the second half of the campaign.

Marc Campbell put the Old Boys in front after 10 minutes before Stuart McConnell added number two shortly after the half-hour mark.

And it was one-way traffic in the second session and Andrew Gilmour’s 55th-minute goal allowed Ballyclare to relax before Campbell netted his second of the afternoon with 20 minutes left on the clock.

In round two of the Canada Trophy Mallusk Athletic fell to a 4-1 defeat to Sport and Leisure Swifts Reserves.

First-half strikes from Kevin Lynch and Declan Moore put the Swifts in the driving seat. Within sixty seconds of Lynch landing his second of the game Kurtis Stirling pounced to register Mallusk’s only goal of the match. But Lynch wasn’t to be outdone and he completed

his hat-trick two minutes into additional time.