Institute suffer seventh league defeat

Institute 2 ... Ards 4

Three massive goalkeeping mistakes from Fintan Doherty resulted in Institute suffering their seventh league defeat of the campaign, as Ards ran out comfortable winners, at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

Kevin Deery’s chargers, who lost at Harland & Wolff Welders in their last outing, never really did enough in the final third for any sustained period throughout the game, however two errors in the final ten minutes meant they didn’t get anything from the encounter.

Conceding too many goals has been Stute’s achilles heel in their opening 16 matches, but they have also struggled at the other end of the pitch and on this showing what will be worrying for Deery is the fact that his side lacked that spark to kick-on after Evan Tweed’s second half equaliser.

The home side miss a super chance on three minutes as Dean Brown’s right wing cross was flicked on by Mikhail Kennedy, but Padraig Lynch’s sliced strike at the back post was well off target.

Stute keeper Doherty had to make a smart save minutes later when he got down low to keep out Zach Barr’s close range effort, after Eamonn Scannell’s left wing cross was chested goalwards by the big striker.

Ards took the lead in sublime fashion on 14 minutes as Scannell spotted Doherty off his line and his clever chip, just a few yards inside the Stute half, flew over the back tracking net-minder and into the net.

The Waterside men levelled things in somewhat fortunate circumstances on 20 minutes as Shane Doherty’s inswinging corner into the near post from the right was headed home into his own net by Barr.

Incredibly six minutes later the visitors regained the lead in superb fashion as a neat one-two with Aidan Steele and Max Greer set-up the Ards right-back inside the Stute box and he fired high into the top left hand corner.

Right on the stroke of half-time Barr had to be replaced by Brian Lee Newell, after the striker picked up a shoulder injury following a late challenge by Shane Boyle and Connor Maxwell’s resulting free-kick from 25 yards had to be parried around the post by a diving Doherty.

With neither side creating much in the early stages of the second half, Stute boss Kevin Deery made a change just before the hour mark as he tried to get his side back into the game with Michael Harris replacing Oisin Duffy.

Unfortunately for the Drumahoe club it was Ards who went close to increasing their advantage on 63 minutes but Corai Quinn’s stinging effort from the right hand side of the box was tipped over by Doherty.

Ards keeper Alex Moore gets the ball ahead of Institute’s Padraig Lynch.

Institute levelled things in stunning style on 68 minutes as Tweed’s first time volley from just inside the right hand edge of the box flew past a diving Ards keeper Alex Moore into the bottom left hand corner.

Moore will be annoyed with his defenders as he did well to keep out Kennedy’s initial 25 yard free-kick, but the Ards men didn’t react quickly enough to block Tweed’s thunderbolt.

John Bailie’s side scored their third on 85 minutes following a dreadful goalkeeping mistake by Doherty; the young keeper let Maxwell’s long range free-kick sneak underneath his body and come back off the post, for the alert Ross Hunter to gleefully fire home the loose ball.

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Soon after Doherty’s dreadful day was summed up when he could only parry out Brian Lee Newell’s stinging shot straight into Greer’s path and the full-back made no mistake turning the ball home into the empty net, to score his second goal of the game.

Institute: Fintan Doherty, Dean Brown, Berti Brandon Diau, Shane Boyle, Shane Doherty; Oisin Duffy (Michael Harris 58), Evan Tweed, Sean Carlin (Cormac Burke 69), Brendan McLaughlin (Tiarnan McKinney 69); Mikhail Kennedy, Padraig Lynch. Scorers: Barr OG (20); Tweed (68)

Ards: Alex Moore, Max Greer, Connor Maxwell, Michael Ruddy, Eamon Scannell, Patrick Cafolla, Zach Barr (Brian Lee Newell 44), Ethan Simpson, Aidan Steele (Ross Hunter 75), Conor Scannell, Coral Quinn. Scorers: Scannell (14); Greer (26 & 87); Hunter (85)

Referee: Stewart Long.