Missed chances cost ’Stute

The Waterside men not for the first time this season fell two goals behind before they really got started, but despite creating a host of clever cut chances they failed to take them.

It was the hosts who took the lead on ten minutes when Marty Havern nicked in ahead of ’Stute keeper Corey Wilson to head home Shaun Parr’s cross from the right.

They doubled their lead on the half hour when Stephen Hughes played in Keith Johnston and the striker superbly lobbed the advancing Wilson from just inside the penalty area.

However, with Kee’s words at half-time ringing in their ears, the visitors came roaring back into it after the break and pinned Warrenpoint into their own half for the majority of the second 45 minutes.

Two minutes after the restart, Michael McCrudden saw his shot well saved by ’Point keeper Johnny Parr and then two minutes later Parr had to be alert again to push out Ricky-Lee Dougherty’s shot from the left.

However, less than 60 seconds later they did halve the deficit when Paddy McLaughlin’s header was saved again by Parr and Neil Harkin reacted quickest to sidefoot home from point blank range.

They could have levelled on 54 minutes only to be denied by another superb piece of goalkeeping by Parr. Harkin’s diagonal ball caught the Warrenpoint defence sleeping and McCrudden looked for all the world as if he would slide it home only for Parr to come racing out and block the striker’s effort. McCrudden then blasted over the bar a minute later after ’Stute capitalised on a poor kickout from Parr.

The next in a long line of chances for the away side arrived with 20 minutes remaining when substitute Dean Carlyle, only only the pitch three minutes, was played through down the right but he dragged across goal and wide of the left hand post when he should have hit the target.

The final opportunity for Institute to salvage something out of the tie came and went with seven minutes to go when another second half sub Darren McFadden shot tamely straight at Parr when he will know that he should have done much better.

Warrenpoint Town: J Parr, Moan, King, J Boyle, Cowan, Mooney, Kinney, S Parr, Havern, Johnston, Hughes. Subs: McCabe for Kinney (77); Smith for Johnston (84); Devlin for Havern (87); Anderson & Kearns (not used).

Institute: Wilson, Roddy, Jarvis, McLaughlin, Taylor; Semple, Harkin, McKeever; Dougherty, Parkhouse, McCrudden. Subs: McFadden for Dougherty (58); Carlyle for Semple (67); Hegarty for McKeever (84); Crown (not used).

Referee: Wesley Campbell (Augher).