INTERMEDIATE CUP: Comrades win 11-goal thriller against Moneyslane

The lead changed hands several times in the Intermediate Cup third-round tie, before the Reds progressed to round four, with goals from Chris Trussell (two), Gary Brown, Chris Getty, John Dobbin and Randal Reid.

Moneyslane came to Dixon Park with a free-scoring reputation from the Mid Ulster League, and they lost little time in taking the lead in the 13th minute, when Coulter beat Jonah Nicholl with a near post header from a corner.

Comrades replied with three goals in four minutes. Trussell drilled the ball into the bottom corner from a Brown pass; Brown then converted an O’Hanlon cross, while Getty powered in a header from an O’Hanlon corner to make it 3-1.

But the Castlewellan lads hadn’t read the script. They immediately pulled one back when Rees nodded home and then brought a thrilling first half to an end with a 41st-minute Quilty equaliser.

Two minutes into the second session the ‘Slane lads silenced the home fans when they forged ahead, with Nicholl wrong-footed by Quilty’s shot which took a deflection.

Reid came off the bench and another three-goals’ blast had the rampant Reds leading 6-4. It was leading scorer Trussell who made it 4-4 with his seventh goal in the past six matches, when his free-kick from 25 yards flashed past White.

The visiting keeper had to retrieve the ball from the net again when Dobbin got on to the end of another well-placed O’Hanlon corner.

Reid chalked up the half-dozen in the 70th minute when he finished off a Dobbin-O’Hanlon defence-splitting move.

The Comrades were now in cruise control, but the minnows fired in number 11, when Bingham blasted into the roof of the net seven minutes from time.

Although Dobbin and McClurg both went close in the closing moments, Comrades fans were glad to hear the final whistle on an afternoon that will likely become part of the Dixon Park folklore.

Ballyclare Comrades: Nicholl; McQuitty, Getty, Wharry, McDermott (Shannon 77’); McClurg, Dobbin, Simpson (Reid 55’), O’Hanlon (Dempster 74’); Brown, Trussell. Subs not used: Haskins, C Woods.