Brilliant Institute breeze past Annagh in Irish Cup

Irish Cup

Institute 4

Annagh United 0

Institute will face Ballyclare Comrades in the sixth round of the Irish Cup after easing past Annagh United at the Brandywell.

‘Stute were three goals to the good by the break, with captain Cormac Burke producing arguably his best performance of the season, scoring one and assisting two as the home side took complete advantage of a strong wind which was at their backs throughout the first period.

It was the visitors who threatened first just 10 minutes in when a low cross from the right from Conor Mullen was met by Craig Taylor at the near post, but there was no control in his effort and it went harmlessly off target.

But it wasn’t long before ‘Stute struck and they took the lead just three minutes later with a picture perfect set-piece to score their first goal of 2023. Shaun Doherty won a free kick on the left 30 yards out and Cormac Burke swung it not a congested penalty area where Shaun Leppard rose to flick a header past Ronan Burns and into the net for his third goal of the season.

With the wind picking up, there was a real opportunity for ‘Stute to make life even more difficult for Annagh and they did just that, scoring an almost identical second on 34 minutes. Again, ‘Stute won a free kick out on the left and this time Burke’s delivery eluded everyone, including goalkeeper Burns, and went straight into the net to make it 2-0.

Annagh’s first half nightmare was not over however as ‘Stute did make it 3-0 just three minutes before the break. Another set-piece proved their undoing, with Burke’s corner from the left causing chaos, with goalkeeper Burns punching it off his line under pressure, but only finding debutant Jack McFeely, who showed tremendous composure to control the ball with his right before lashing it into the roof of the net with his left in one brilliant movement.

The first half could not come to an end quickly enough for Annagh.

Annagh had the wind at their backs in the second half but before they could even begin to use it to their advantage, ‘Stute struck again to end any hopes of a comeback. Alonzo Clarke started a brilliant move which led to the goal on 51 minutes, spreading the ball across to the corner of the penalty area where the impressive McFeely played Orrin McLaughlin through and the midfielder hammered the ball past Burns to make it 4-0.  

‘Stute were still hungry for more and Jamie McCormick’s determination to win the ball almost earned himself a goal. The forward chased down a backpass from Paul Finnegan and he blocked the attempted clearance from Burns, with the goalkeeper’s effort rebounding off McCormick, rolling back across the goal, but just trickling wide of the empty net.

It took 81 minutes for Annagh to really test Dylan Doherty in the ‘Stute goal, with defender Nathan Kerr trying his luck from 25 yards with an effort which was pushed comfortably over the bar by the goalkeeper.

Teams

Institute: Dylan Doherty, Rhys McDermott, Shaun Leppard, Dylan King, Ronan McAleer, Orrin McLaughlin (Aidan Campbell 86’), Shaun Doherty, Alonzo Clarke (Patrick McLaughlin 73’), Jack McFeely (Max McLaughlin 86’), Jamie McCormick, Cormac Burke.

Annagh United: Ronan Burns, Nathan Kerr, Jordan Campbell, Paul Finnegan, Ben Eagle, Conor Mullen (Christian Stewart 69’), Stephen Murray, Craig Taylor, Stephen McGuinness, Scott McCullough, Ryan Moffatt.

Referee: Steven Gregg.