SOCCER: Coagh relegated as Glebe do the double

COAGH United were relegated to Championship Two on Monday night. A 2-0 win by Ballyclare over Ballinamallard, coupled with Coagh's disappointing defeat to Glebe on Saturday, condemned Coagh to the lower Division next season.

A spokesperson for Coagh said:

"We had our chances over the last few weeks and blew it, after Glebe on Saturday it was too late.

"We will sit down over the summer and take stock over what was a very poor season; we will rebuild and hopefully come back stronger from this, it is important for everyone at Coagh that we get back into Division one as quickly as possible. Our congratulations go to both Glebe and Ballyclare; they got the results and stay up."

Coagh did everything right on Saturday but score. Winning six of their last twenty five League matches in one of the worst seasons at Hagan Park for years is why Coagh went down.

Many Coagh supporters blamed the referee on Saturday. Paddy McFadden had a poor game by his standards but Glebe wont complain, they got out of jail with an offside goal and at dubious penalty kick and as we all know when your luck is down all these things seem to go against you.

Coagh controlled and hemmed their opposition in for ninety minutes but just could not get the ball over the line.

It all looked rosy for Coagh when star player Stuart Dallas surged forward on four minutes to squeeze the ball past Kane to give his team the perfect start.

From the restart Dallas and the lively McCordick combined at good set of passes with McCordick final shot just skimming the upright.

It took Glebe 20 minutes to get their first shot on goal, with Parkhill forcing Kempton into his first save of the match.

Coagh's supremacy continued and when Park slid the ball over the line things were looking up for Coagh but the linesman flag changed that and it went down as another good chance missed.

Coagh continue to dominate with Thornton, McMemeny and Reid all forcing Kane into good saves. With Coagh having so much of the ball Glebe rarely made any impression on the Coagh goal but that all changed on the stroke of half time when McVicker broke clear.

He appeared to be a good two yards off side but with no flag McVicker slipped the ball to Parkhill and he made no mistake from outside the six yard box to level just before the break.

Glebe continued with their plan after the restart, defend first and try and hit Coagh on the break and this plan worked when Coagh's Richie Allen slipped allowing McVicker to run clear. In a packed box McVicker went down and the referee pointed straight to the spot.

Parkhill stepped up to send Kempton the wrong way to put Glebe back in the driving seat.

From the restart Glebe put all eleven men behind the ball and frustrated Coagh with every time wasting tactic in the book.

Glebe; Kane, Taylor, Spratt, Wharry, McCart, Brace, McVicker, Kennaway, Parkhill, Elder, Lynch Subs Dobbin, Tannahill, Nichol, Madison, McCallon GK

Coagh; Kempton, Calderwood, Hawe, Cowden, Thornton, Reid, McMemeny, Dallas, Allen, McCordick, Park, Gardiner, McGaw, McGuckin, Pollock GK

Referee Patrick McFadden (Londonderry)