| Every League match seems to be billed as a
'must-win' game for Glenavon and this was no exception. With Ballyclare
featuring amongst the pundits' choices as one of the potential
champions, and currently lying in third place, it was always going to be
a tough game. The first half was largely uninspiring fare with Stephen
McAlorum having the clearest opportunity to open the scoring, in the
15th minute, but he delayed too long and allowed Craig McClean to
dispossess him after McMahon had slipped a delightfully weighted pass
into the young midfielder's run. In the 27th minute Bell had a shot
charged down by the Glenavon defence and this gave Walsh the chance to
break quickly but he was unable to fashion a clear-cut opening.
Early in the second half Glenavon took a quick free kick down the
left wing and Walsh was able to put over a great cross to the back post
but McMahon, starting his first league match in two years, put his
header wide. Minutes later Comrade's Gary Bell sent a shot flashing just
wide of McDonald's left-hand post.
Just after this scare McCloskey and Candlish linked up well on the
left and the lanky winger slipped a pass in to McMahon in the Ballyclare
box. The former International went down under a challenge from Forsythe
but the referee seemed to penalise McMahon instead of awarding him a
penalty. Wright then gave away the ball and was forced to pull down
Doherty, rightly being yellow-carded in the process.
Johnny Montgomery almost crowned his return to Mourneview with a goal
on the hour mark when he met McCloskey's corner with a powerful header
but it flew straight into the gloves of Huxley.
McVeigh replaced the tiring Candlish and immediately caused different
problems for the defenders with his strength and hold up play. In the
76th minute Walsh went on a mazy run with the ball and hit a decent shot
that Huxley held well. Two minutes later McMahon got on the end of a
great through ball and unleashed a powerful shot that Huxley did well to
turn round the post. From McCloskey's corner McMahon rose at the back
post and netted with a powerful downward header. His celebrations
clearly showed his delight at the first goal following the traumatic
time he has had since breaking his leg.
With 4 minutes to go Comrades' substitute Mark Craig took advantage
of a slip by Montgomery and nipped in to unleash a powerful strike that
McDonald parried and Murray cleared the rebound for a corner. Just a
minute later Walsh made another good raid down the right and crossed low
for McVeigh. He showed his striker's instinct as he turned his marker
and got away a low shot that Huxley held with some difficulty.
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Gerard McMahon played the full 90 minutes for
the first time since his comeback from injury and he scored the winner with a back post header
11 minutes from time
Photo by Robert
Curran |
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