CRUMLIN STAR  4 - 2  A.W.M.C

 

Crumlin Star won the battle of Ardoyne at the Junior stadium on Saturday. A great second half comeback seen the Star come from 2-1 down to win the match 4-2 and be crowned the best team in Ardoyne. Both teams started nervously with missed placed passes and bad defending making it a dull encounter and it was bad defending that gifted Ardoyne their first goal, Braniff failed to clear the ball properly and after a ping pong session in the box the ball fell to Thomas Neeson and the Ardoyne striker buried it with ease to send the League into raptures. The Star responded well as Braniff and Reid began to win more of the ball in the middle of the park and it wasn't long before the Star equalised. The ball broke to Braniff at the edge of the area and he found O'Reilly out wide, his in swinging cross was met by Devenny and his header found the back of the net to level the sides. As half time approached slack defending again from the Star gifted Ardoyne the lead as big PJ O'Neill curled the ball past O'Dwyre in goal from the edge of the area to give Ardoyne the advantage going into half time.          H/T 1-2

 

Star manager Eamonn Hawkins had a few harsh words to say to his players in the changing room and this was to spur his players on as they produced a stunning comeback in the second half. With a lot more bite and determination the Star started to dominate the second half as their superior fitness began to tell. On the hour Star got the equaliser they deserved as Brendan Mailey upended Sean O'Reilly for a definite penalty and Barry McKervey made no mistake with the spot kick as he drilled the ball past Gibson in goal to level the sides once again. The Star then took the lead for the first time in the game in the 70th minute when Eamon Clarke turned Baker in the area and slotted the ball home to send the star supporters wild. Ardoyne manager made a few changes to try and rescue the game but the Stars defence held firm as they limited the League to a couple of half chances. The game was made safe in the last minute when Ciaran Reid played a neat one-two with Paul Brown and the dynamic midfielder struck a 25 yard thunderbolt into the roof of the net and send Crumlin Star into the next round of the Junior cup.