Drumaness Mills 0
Grove United 1
GROVE United added to Drumaness' miserable run when they dumped them
out of the Paddy Power Steel and Sons Cup at Meadowvale.
The Mills were again hampered by the fact that they had to make six
changes from the side beaten 3-1 by Ardglass the previous week in
the Border Cup with Tommy Williams, Aidy Kelly, Paddy Bell, Neil
Walsh, Peter Withnell and Jamie O'Connor coming in for Paddy
McDonnell, John Connolly, Gary Murdock, Mark Rainey, Brian
McIlmurray and Kevin Duffin.
The Mills made the worst possible start when the lively Neil Walsh
was stretchered off and taken to hospital with ankle ligament
damage.
Play was extremely competitive in the middle of the park, but
chances at either end were few and far between as a war of attrition
raged for dominance.
The first real opening fell to Brian McGivern, who had replaced the
unfortunate Neil Walsh, but he shot wide in the 36th minute.
The tackles continued to fly in with no quarter asked or given and
Grove's Ryan Beattie was the first player to be booked for a nasty
challenge on Paul Walsh and for repeated fouling.
With 41 minutes gone Grove's Paul Bright should have given his side
the lead, but he headed a Mark Finn cross against the crossbar. A
minute later Bright was booked for a high tackle on Kelly.
The visitors continued to pose problems for the Drumaness defence,
but Paul Burns was a giant the back for the Mills and he was on hand
in the 43rd minute to cut out a dangerous cross to the back post.
Two minutes after the break Michael Watson earned his corn when he
prevented Bright from giving Grove the lead with a point-blank save.
The visitors looked to have taken a 49th minute lead when Watson
could only parry a Finn shot out as far as Chris Heaney. The Grove
winger was left with a simple tap in, but his effort was rightly
ruled out for offside.
Gavin McEvoy and Peter Withnell, who had just been booked, combined
well to release the former, but after beating three players on his
way into the box, McEvoy was robbed off possession by Steve Heaney.
The ball fell kindly for Withnell and he unselfishly set up McEvoy,
but his shot went narrowly wide.
Grove eventually took the lead in the 70th minute when Finn struck
after the Mills defence failed to clear their lines from a corner.
The game threatened to boil over on several occasions with the
referee having to speak to both managers in a bid to get them to
control their players.
Drumaness knew their luck was out when a Burns cross seemed to be
heading for the back of the net until the Grove goalkeeper saved the
day with a fine save.
Drumaness Mills: M. Watson, S. Melville, T. Williams, A. Kelly, P.
Burns, P. Bell, N. Walsh, P. Walsh, G. McEvoy, P. Withnell, J.
O'Connor. Subs: D. Clarke, S. Boyd, B. McGivern.
• Match sponsored by Rhona's
Hairdressers, Drumaness.
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