Love loses out on Valentines weekend

ONLY two fixtures were played in the Hutchinson Tiles League on Saturday.

All games in the Coleraine area were called off early on Saturday morning despite the pitches appearing to be in near perfect condition come kick off time.

The fixtures that did go ahead were in Balnamore and Ballymoney.

Hazelbank traveled to Balnamore and came back with a hard fought point after a 2-2 draw.

At the Joey Dunlop Centre, Macosquin Village won by the odd goal in five against The Taverners with new signing Willie Stewart bagging a brace on his debut.

The quarter-final draw of the Hutchinson Tiles Knockout Cup has been made with four interesting ties up for contest. Macosquin Village face Hazelbank, Mountview host Dunaghy Old Boys, Berthas FC are away to Somerset while the Taverners entertain West Bann Athletic. All games are scheduled to be played on Saturday 27 February.

The next delegates meeting will be held in the Railway Arms on Monday 1 March at 7pm. Transfer and registration of players has now closed for the remainder of the season.

Balnamore 2 Hazelbank 2

This was a big fixture for both teams with a big 3 points up for grabs at the top of the table.

The home team started the stronger and took the lead after only 5 minutes of play when Ryan Mooney got the better of Mark Crawford in the midfield before hammering the ball into the back of the net from 25 yards.

Balnamore were neat and tidy, playing some good football and should have further increased their lead when Hogg got to the ball ahead of Steven Crawford but embarrassingly fired over the bar with the goal at his mercy.

The kept going, creating plenty of chances in the opening half hour but poor finishing and good Hazelbank defending kept the scoreline the same. Hazelbank finally found the feet and after a few half chances of their own, drew level through Nigel Sheppard. McCartney and Smyth combined to find Wilson down the right, his cross was flicked on by McClarty to Sheppard and the striker made no mistake lashing the ball into the back of the net first time.

They went in front soon after when Smyths cross was controlled on the chest by McClarty and his acrobatic kick found the net via a deflection off Connor.

The first half and been a good watch for any neutral present and the second half continued in that vain. Gavin Kelly and Cairan Wilson were in good form for the visitors with Connor and Tweed showing up well for Balnamore. Plenty of chances came and went without success for both teams with Crawford and Elder pulling off decent saves.

Balnamore got on level terms when Sean Hogg score from close range after Crawford had made a good save from Tweeds excellent free kick. Both teams pushed hard to find a winner but defences held firm and the match finished with both teams picking up a deserved point. Man of the Match: Sean Smyth (Hazelbank)

The Taverners 2 Macosquin Village 3

Previous encounters between these 2 teams have ended with plenty of controversy down the years and this game was no different.

The home team dominated the first 20 minutes of the game and took the lead that their play deserved when Paul Robinson scored from just inside the box. Macosquin slowly came back into it with the Stewarts, Willie and Darren working hard while Chrissy Holmes always looked dangerous on the ball.

The visitors started the second half intent on attacking the Taverners and they got on level terms when Willie Stewart scored his first goal for the club when he converted Holmes’ cross. Holmes then put his team in front when he beat his man before firing hard and low and into the back of the net. The game was heating up with a few heavy challenges giving the referee plenty to think about.

Billy McCurdy was lucky not to see red for poor tackle on Johnston before Darryl Marshall did amazingly see red for what looked like an innocuous challenge, much to the surprise to him and pretty much everyone on the pitch. However this seemed to spurn the Village team on and they further increased their lead when Darren Stewart sent Willie Stewart clean through and the striker showed great composure to beat the Taverners keeper.

Macosquin should have wrapped the game up moments later, Chris Wade hitting the post when well placed inside the Taverners box. The home side pulled one back with 10 minutes to go, Harry Love the scorer but this was as good as it got for the Ballymoney men as Macosquin Village held on for an excellent 3 points. Man of the Match: Darren Stewart (The Taverners)

Fixtures

Fixtures for Saturday 20 February

Ballyrashane Coronation v Berthas FC Ballysally 2

Coleraine Olympic v Brook Street Rugby Avenue 1

Dunaghy Old Boy's v West Bann Athletic Dunaghy

Finn McCool's v Somerset Bushmills

Hazelbank v Taverners F.C Rugby Avenue 3

Hillview F.C v Balnamore F.C Crescent 3

Riverside Athletic v Mountview F.C Fulton Park

Villagers F.C v F.C Macosquin Castlerock