Institute beat Ballymena to take narrow advantage into second leg
Danny Lafferty scorcher settles first leg of Promotion/ Relegation Play-Off
Institute 1
A stunning effort from Danny Lafferty gave Institute a narrow advantage in their Promotion/ Relegation Play-Off with Ballymena at the end of a thrilling game at the Brandywell.
The 34-year-old, playing in midfield on the night, found the top corner with an incredible effort from 30 yards early in the second half, and it proved enough to give his tam the crucial advantage at the half-way stage of the tie.
‘Stute began the game very nervously and that almost cost them as Dylan King allowed the ball to bounce on the edge of the 18-yard box, and his indecision almost cost his team dearly. Fraser Taylor nipped in to take possession and his shot took a slight deflection which took it away from the dive of Fintan Doherty, with the ball striking the inside of the post and rolling right across the face of an empty goal.
Ballymena had plenty of encouragement in the early stages, and they came close again when Noah Stewart cleverly evaded Caoimhin Porter at the byline and ambitiously went for goal from what looked an impossible angle, shooting into the side netting.
‘Stute took their time to settle into the game, but Porter almost gave them the lead with a spectacular effort from 25 yards which forced Sean O’Neill into a fingertip save, as the Ballymena goalkeeper pushed it over for a corner.
The hosts could have gone into the break with the lead as they created the best chance of the game in the last minute of the first half. Sean Carlin’s clever pass found Jamie Dunne in behind and the ball bounced up for him perfectly to shoot, but O’Neill was out quickly to block. Still, the chance was there as the rebound bounced back into the path of Porter, whose half volley was deflected just wide of the target.
Half Time 0-0
Ballymena had strong claims for a penalty denied early in the second half when they outnumbered ‘Stute on a counter-attack and Sean Brown’s cross appeared to strike the hand of Porter inside the area, but referee Evan Boyce said no.
From there, ‘Stute took control and Liam Mullan came close to giving his team the lead with a spectacular effort which just flew over O’Neill’s crossbar.
But the deadlock was broken on 56 minutes and it was done so in memorable fashion. The goal owed everything to the hard work of Michael Harris, who ran 60 yards with the all from a Ballymena corner. Support eventually arrived in the form of Jamie Dunne on the right, who sent the ball to Danny Lafferty in midfield who took a touch before shooting straight into the top corner from all of 30 yards to make it 1-0. It was Lafferty’s second goal for the club on his 15th appearance and was absolutely priceless.
Ballymena pushed hard for the equaliser in the closing stages, and it looked as if they had it when a ball to the back post found McCullough, but his effort pinballed onto the six yard box where Brown tried to force it in, but Oisin Devlin was there to save his team on the line.
'Stute now head to Ballymena on Friday evening hoping to take the final step to return to the Irish Premier League after four years away.
Teams
Institute: Doherty, Porter (Tweed 80’), Leppard, King, Lafferty (Burke 89’), Quigley; Mullan, Devlin, Carlin (McGinty 83’) ; Dunne (McLaughlin 89’) , Harris.
Ballymena United: O’Neill, Whiteside, Gawne (Place 78’), McCullough, Taylor, Boyle, Brown, Stewart, Barr (Rocks 61’), McCurry (McMurray 84’), McCallion.
Referee: Evan Boyce (Ballygowan).