Institute left frustrated against 10-man Annagh at the Brandywell

Institute 0

Annagh United 0

A shake of the head from Kevin Deery at the final whistle told its own story as Institute feel short in their aim to win four successive league games for the first time under his management.

Deery, recently returned to the dug-out after illness, was left frustrated as his team performed without the spark that has seen them resurrect their season, from being pinned to the bottom of the NIFL Championship to steadily climbing it to the point that they were the form team in the division heading into Saturday’s games.

After defender Kris Calvert was sent off early in the second half, it looked as if the path was clear for ‘Stute to go on and win, but they created only one decent chance, which should have been taken by Mikhail Kennedy. It just wasn’t ‘Stute’s day.

“It's another clean sheet as well,” Deery said afterwards. “I would say that our achilles heel were the goals we were giving away in the first half dozen games. But we have gotten 10 points from 12 in the last four games, so, it's a good tally, but it's definitely a missed opportunity to win four on the bounce.

“We controlled the whole game, really. The only threat they had was long balls into our box. But our decision making and how clinical we are; last week against Newington, it was similar. Mikhail scored a good free kick last week, but we created four or five really good chances and we weren't clinical, and this was the same.”

Neither side were at their best in the opening half hour, but it was definitely Annagh finding their feet quicker, Ryan Swan shooting into the side netting before an misjudgement from Fintan Doherty gave Jack Hastings a real chance to give the visitors the lead. The young ‘Stute goalkeeper raced out of his area but was beaten to the ball by the Annagh winger, who then tried to shoot into an empty goal with Doherty frantically backtracking, but his effort was much too high and the chance was gone.

‘Stute came so close to scoring a picture-perfect goal just minutes later when Sean Carlin placed a precision pass down the right for Conor Quigley to run onto, and his drilled cross was headed straight to the head of Benny McLaughlin until goalkeeper Jason Craughwell got a vital hand to it to take it away from him.

Half Time 0-0

‘Stute came within literal inches of falling behind in the opening minute of the second half as Annagh threatened with their first corner.

Hastings’ delivery was flicked on at the near post by Conall Young and Philip Donnelly flicked the ball goalwards from close range, only for Doherty to stop the ball on the line.

But Annagh’s chances of getting something from the game took a hit just five minutes into the second half when defender Kris Calvert, already on a yellow card for a first half lung on Michael Harris, went through the back of the ‘Stute man again, giving referee Louise Thompson no choice but to produce a red card.

Kevin Deery responded by adding Padraig Lynch to his attack, but the ‘Stute boss had his head in his hands within minutes when his team passed up an incredible chance to take the led, Shane Boyle’s curling cross in behind the Annagh defence picking out Kennedy perfectly, but the normally lethal striker sent his shot high over the ball from less than 10 yards.

Yet in a game of very few chances, Annagh retained their belief and ‘Stute hearts were in their mouths on 69 minutes when Jack Evans’ low cross went right across the face of goal, with Ryan Swan just millimetres from getting the tough which would have taken it into the net.

“We were in the areas, with good balls but the desire and application to get in the right areas to tap the ball in the net was questionable,” Deery concluded. “We were a bit reactive, and we just have to go away now and work on a couple of attacking patterns when we get more numbers under the box in the right areas. All I can think about is improving our build-up, and then in the final third, getting players in and around the box to affect the final touches, essentially, to score goals.”

“In this league, every team can do it, but I feel we're a unique team in terms of the way we play, but if you're not being clinical and not putting your chances away, it's going to affect your outcome this season.”

Teams

Institute: Fintan Doherty, Conor Quigley, Berti Diau, Caoimhin Crossan, Shane Boyle (Caoimhin Porter 66’), Sean Carlin (Oisin Duffy 75’), Benny McLaughlin (Padraig Lynch 56’), Evan Tweed, Sean Doherty, Michael Harris (Tiarnan McKinney 75’), Mikhail Kennedy (Jamie Browne 66’).

Annagh:  Jason Craughwell, Nathan Kerr, Lee Upton, Paul Finnegan, Kris Calvert, Aaron Rogers, Conall Young, Jack Evans (Ruairi McDonald 92’), Ryan Swan (James Convie 77’), Philip Donnelly, Jack Hastings (Steven Murray 77’).

Referee: Louise Thompson.