Matty and Mackie to the Rescue as Govan Derby ends in Draw

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Chris Mackie

(Photo courtesy of Stephen Kennedy - www.thejuniors.info)

A Chris Mackie goal on his competitive debut for The Ants,in the 87th minute snatched a 2-2 draw v local rivals Benburb at a sun drenched McKenna Park.

The opening exchanges were quite tentative with the home side doing the early pressing but with no real chances of note. This changed in the 15th minute when Andy Bonner found Timoney, who's long through ball landed at the feet of ROSS CUMMING and last year's top goalscorer made no mistake, cooly slotting the ball past the Bens keeper to draw first blood for The Ants. Mackie then almost doubled the lead but his effort from a tight angle flashed across the front of the Bens goal. Next to try his luck was McCuish however he could only look on as the youngster in goals for the Bens touched his netbound shot crashing off the crossbar and cleared.

Despite this early pressure The Ants found themselves hauled back onto level terms in the 32nd minute when MAX MCKEEwas awarded far too much freedom in the Ants penalty box, beating 3 men easily before slotting past Carr to bring the Bens back on level terms.

This sparked a change in the flow of the game with the Bens now playing with a bit more belief, and they started to come more and more into the match, however the Ants defence were resolute and although a flurry of corners were awarded the defence coped well. The half ended in mild controversy when Match Referee Mr Napier appeared to blow at first for a passback after Dickson took a heavy touch and Carr quite rightly picked it up. The Ants were bemused when Mr Napier blew to signal a foul, however seconds later the Bens were just as confused when he signalled that it was infact half time

Half Time - Ants 1 v 1 Benburb

The second half started with a bang as Benburb almost took the lead but Matty Carr produced a great save smothering from close range from Hendry. 3 minutes later the Ants felt hard done by as they were reduced to ten men after Timoney was sent off very harshly for blocking a Bens players run, which somehow Mr Napier deemed to be violent conduct and dismissed the debutant.

The Bens, spurred on by the man advantage started to dominate the match, with the home side reduced to hitting on the break. A defensive re-shuffle saw Bernie McDonald take the place of John Borris as James McKenna tried to limit the damage caused by the dismissal.

The impressive Carr, also making his debut, then pulled off a great double save, parrying a shot low to his right and then showing great agility to block the second attempt. Despite his heroics moments earlier, Carr was completely helpless when a good move by The Bens culminated in their second goal when SCOTT HENDRY was played through and he made no mistake this time as he placed the ball past the ants number one to put the Bens 2-1 ahead a minute short of the hour mark.

A minute after going behind the Ants almost drew level but Mark McCuish's free kick just clipped the top of the bar and over for a goal kick. This signalled a couple of changes by the Ants management team which saw McCuish replaced by Niall Reynolds and 10 minutes later, throwing caution to the wind by replacing Dickson with striker Jordan White. These changes had a clear impact as the Ants started to fight their way back into the match. A shot from distance was almost fumbled into his own net by the Benburb keeper and then a succession of corners were cleared by the Bens rear guard.

At the other end Carr tipped a dipping cross-cum-shot over the

bar as it threatened to dip underneath before Miller for the Ants put the ball just over from a free kick. White's presence was causing the Bens defence all manner of problems and in the 87th minute the big striker put the ball into the path of CHRIS MACKIE who made no mistake from 12 yards to equalise for the Ants. Deep into injury time Cumming had a chance to win it for the Ants with a free kick from 20 yards but his effort hit the wall and the chance was lost.

Full Time - Ants 2 v 2 Bens

Ants Website Man of the Match - Matty Carr