| Glenavon suffered its first loss in the League this season when
current leaders Armagh City scored two second half goals. Glenavon
failed to take advantage of the strong wind at their backs in the first
half and also found former Lurgan Blues 'stopper' Paul Rice in fine
form. He was in action inside the first minute when he blocked a long
kick out with his face to prevent Derek Delaney taking it round him. In
the fourth minute Walsh's deft flick from a corner was cleared off the
line and three minutes later Rice was quickly off his line to deflect McKnight's
effort from Clifford's through ball.
Ten minutes before the interval McKnight combined well with Walsh on
the right and Walsh beat the full back and returned the ball to McKnight
in the box. He cut the ball back to McAlorum around the penalty spot but
the young midfielder missed his kick completely. In first half stoppage
time Rice pulled off a brilliant save when he somehow held onto
Delaney's well struck shot from close range.
Andy McDonald made some fine
saves for the home side including a 51st minute strike from
McGeown but he was grateful for the woodwork when
Hawthorne clipped the bar from 20 yards in the 65th minute. In between
these efforts Rice saved well from McAlorum's 20 yard effort.
Armagh were
at that stage enjoying a good passage of play and were making better use
of the conditions. Hawthorne's run into the box and deflected shot in
the 71st minute lead to the corner from which City took the lead. The
corner was an in-swinger and Anton Reilly, signed this week by Colin Malone
to replace the injured Kevin Bates, nodded in at the back post though he
later credited the goal to the corner taker, Mark Turkington.
McMahon shot across the goal in the 80th minute after McKnight pulled
the ball back to him on the edge of the area. More excellent work by
McKnight set up a chance for Delaney but he was once again denied by an
excellent save by Rice.
Turkington made the points safe for City three minutes from time when he
chipped the ball over an exposed McDonald after a Glenavon attack broke
down and City swept forward quickly, with Lurgan man Hawthorne supplying
the killer pass. Glenavon were even denied a consolation when Rice
pulled off a wonder save from McMahon, with the setup play again coming
from McKnight.
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