JUNIOR FOOTBALL: Bertha’s cause shield upset

Michael McLaughlin’s late header was enough to send Chris Patterson’s men through the next round. Elsewhere there was comfortable wins for Glebe Rangers and Hillview over FC Macosquin and Brook Street respectively. West Bann were made to battle in their win over Finn McCools while Dunaghy needed extra time to see off The Taverners. In the remaining tie, Ballyrashane won on penalties after their game with Coleraine Olympic finished 2-2 after extra time.

All teams using facilities allocated by Coleraine Council are reminded that payment for pitches MUST be made before 9pm on the Thursday preceding a Saturday fixture. Over the past few weeks several teams have neglected to comply with the stipulated time and the league have now been reminded by council that failure of teams to make payment on time MAY result in the offending team being denied use of facilities.

Were this to happen the offending team would be liable to forfieture of points and payment of pitch and possible payment of the referees fee.

Keep up to date with all the league action at www.htwl.leaguerepublic.com

Mountview FC 2 Berthas FC 3

This was probably the tie of the round on paper and it didn’t disappoint with both teams contributing to an entertaining, hard fought game. It was an even enough start with a few half chances either way until Mountview took the lead with around 15 minutes gone. They caught Berthas sleeping with a quick free kick, Martin finding Doherty who controlled before crossing to the back post where Dave Parsons arrived on cue to finish from close range.

The away side hit straight back though when Davy Graham strolled through the midfield, found McLaughlin who squared for his strike partner Caldwell who made no mistake from six yards. Berthas threatened again with McIlreavy and Caldwell going close while at the other end, McClarty clawed a Doherty header off the line and Fraser had a shot blocked.

The game was played at a frantic pace, neither side giving an inch and as the half closed, MacAulay went close from distance for Berthas and McClarty saved easily from Doherty’s turn and shot.

The second half was no different, both teams wanting the win and Mountview should have taken the lead when Doherty squared for Mitchell but the big man fired over from close range. It was Berthas who took the lead, slightly against the run of play when Graham again waltzed through the midfield to fashion a shot on goal, which McAllister was equal to but the loose ball landed at the feet of McLaughlin who lashed home first time.

Berthas then enjoyed a 10-minute spell without increasing their lead before Mountview took a grip of things, going on to dominate only to find the Berthas defence up for the task. Time for a few Mountview changes and one of these made a quick impact with Darryl Wills finding the back of the net from close in following more good play by Doherty.

Mountview, rather than push on for the winner seemed to take the foot off the gas and they were made to pay for this with three minutes left when McLaughlin delicately flicked home at the near post from MacAulay’s corner. Mountview barely had time to mount an attack and Berthas held on for an excellent win. Man of the Match: Davy Graham (Berthas FC)

Glebe Rangers Old Boys 4 FC Macosquin 1

Glebe started off slowly in this first round Shield encounter and Danny Allen was called on to make a couple of good saves to keep the scores level early on. Wilmont rattled the woodwork with a 25 yard drive as the Old Boys sought to gain a foothold in the game, but it was Macosquin who struck first when McGuinness capitalised on an error by Allen.

Glebe got back on level terms when the lively Elder made the most of an attempted back-pass by Bacon to slot home and the score remained level until half-time.

The second half saw a much improved Glebe performance. Ryan Madison, currently in great form, scored a brace to put his side three-one up. Both goals were the result of fine approach work with Elder, Wilmont and Nicholl to the fore. The Old Boys suffered a setback when Wilmont was forced off after a late tackle and, with no subs, Glebe were forced to finish with only ten men.

However that did not prevent them scoring a fourth as Les Nicholl got the goal his efforts deserved when he converted a fine cross by Elder to leave the final score four-one to the Old Boys. Man of the Match: Alan McBride (Glebe Rangers Old Boys)

Brook Street 0 Hillview FC 4

An injury to McDowell early in the first half forced Hillview to shuffle their team and place McVey in goal. Despite this, chances in the opening half were a rarity for both sides and it ended goalless. Archibald gave Hillview the lead in the first few minutes of second half, but it was the introduction of Hutchinson and Close with half an hour to go that took the game away from the home side. Goals from Nevin, Frazer and Close in this period gave Hillview a 4-0 victory and cruise into the next round. Man of the Match: Timmy Close (Hillview)

West Bann Athletic 3 Finn McCools 1

West Bann Athletic and Finn McCools served up an entertaining first round Coleraine Social Club Shield match at Rugby Avenue. Athletic started the brighter of the two sides playing some nice football into the bargain. Athletic were close to opening the scoring on a few occasions with Matthew McCandless and Paul Fleming having the best of the chances but both saw their shots well saved by the Finn McCools number one.

Athletic’s pressure finally paid on 25 minutes when Chris Shirlow’s cross created confusion in the box with Martin Pancott and Michael Olphert challenging Finn McCool’s defender Adam Deighan put the ball past his own keeper to put Athletic up 1-0.

Athletic made it 2-0 on the half hour through Paul Fleming who made no mistake when presented with the opportunity choosing placement over power giving the keeper no chance. Finn McCool’s got themselves back into the game with 40 minutes gone when they were awarded and scored a penalty kick to make it 2-1 at half time.

Athletic and Finn McCools started the second half with both teams going all out in search of that all important next goal. Finns looked threatening going forward but rarely troubled the Athletic goalkeeper and just could not seem to carve out any real clear cut chances. It was Athletic however who were to have the final say of the game when Martin Robinson finished well when he found himself with only the keeper to beat after a slick Athletic counter with the game virtually on the blow to leave the score 3-1 to West Bann Athletic at the final whistle. Man of the Match: David Hunter (West Bann Athletic)

The Taverners 1 Dunaghy Old Boys 2 (aet)

Both teams started off well but on eight minutes the Dunaghy keeper lifted a back pass and from the free kick C Mooney headed home from six yards. After the goal Taverners pushed forward forcing keeper Murray into three good saves.

Into the second half and Dunaghy forced the home keeper in to several good saves. It looked as though Taverners were going to see the game out but with a minute to go Mooney scored again, this time into his own net to take the game into extra time.

Extra time was a cagey affair but it was the visitors who grabbed the only goal as Jason Moore finished off W Blair’s low cross to put his side in the next round.

Man of the Match: C. Mooney (The Taverners)

Ballyrashane FC 2 Coleraine Olympic 2

This was a big game for both teams, but surprised was the only word that could explain it. Ballyrashane looked the stronger team in the first half but failed to take their chances from the word go with both Freeman and Cooper coming close on a number of occasions. A lot of praise has to go to Olympic as they passed the ball well but in the first half they only had one shot on target which was saved comfortably by Doherty in the Ballyrashane goal.

Both teams could only see it out till half time and try to regroup as the wind also played a big factor in which Ballyrashane failed to take advantage of it in the first half. score line at half time 0-0. In the second half Coleraine Olympic really took it to Ballyrashane and it paid off when young Jordan Greer used the wind to his advantage to beat Doherty from distance with a superb strike.

Ballyrashane pushed hard to come back and it paid off on the 77th minute when the Olympic keeper failed to keep the ball in his hands and Simpson put it across the line from a tight angle to make it 1-1. No more goals came from either side and the game was forced into extra time in which was more action packed.

The first half of extra time was mainly dominated by Ballyrashane but once again they could not find the net. Come the second half Olympic scored giving them a glimmer of hope when Weatherall slotted the ball past Doherty after shouting let it go before striking. this leaving the Ballyrashane players angry with the referee who clearly was not interested.

Ballyrashane hit back hard when Cooper hit a wonder strike from outside the box giving the Olympic keeper no chance of a save at all. This match could not be sorted in 120 minutes so it was decided on penalties. Ballyrashane’s Cooper, McClenaghan, Freeman, McIntyre all scored their spot kicks and Olympics Thompson, Greer, Barr also scored but Weatherall’s was saved by Ballyrashane’s Doherty and Olympic keeper Phillip Doherty put his wide of the post. So Ballyrashane went throuhgh. Man of the Match: Michael Thompson (Coleraine Olympic)

Saturday 6 October

Ballyrashane v Coleraine Olympic Rugby Avenue 4

Balnamore FC v Brook Street Fulton Park

FC Macosquin v Taverners FC Rugby Avenue 2

Glebe Rangers Old Boys v Dunaghy Old Boy’s Riada 2

Hillview FC v Windyhall FC Crescent 3

Mountview FC v Bertha’s FC Rugby Avenue 3

Villagers FC v Hazelbank Castlerock

West Bann Athletic v Finn McCool’s Rugby Avenue 1