Institute come from behind twice to save a point against H&W Welders

Institute 2

H&W Welders 2

Institute came from behind twice but couldn’t force a winner in an entertaining game against H&W Welders at the Ryan McBride Brandywell Stadium.

In the first game of the split, ‘Stute dug deep after a poor start to keep their promotion hopes alive ahead of a trip to league leaders Dundela on Saturday.

The start to the game couldn’t have been any worse for ‘Stute as they conceded within five minutes. Ewan McCoubray’s cross from the right found Oisin Barr unmarked at the back post, and although his header was parried by Gareth Muldoon, the ball spun across goal for Josha Kee, who bundled it over the line to make it 1-0.

It should have been 2-0 within minutes as ‘Stute were opened up again, Tiarnan O’Connor running through on goal from halfway, but he opted to take the ball around Muldoon, and then shot wide with ‘Stute defenders racing back. McCoubray then had a chance to score after shrugging off Oisin Devlin, but his shot was blocked by Muldoon. Paul Kee held his hands in the air in disbelief on the sidelines, while Kevin Deery could not believe what he was seeing from his team. ‘Stute could have been 3-0 down with 10 minutes not played.

But ‘Stute somehow survived, and as usual in football, the team unable to take their chances pays the price. With half time approaching, Danny Lafferty’s corner was flicked on at the near post and the ball felt to Shane Boyle, who placed the ball with some venom into the roof of the net from close range. It was his first goal for the club and a huge goal in the context of ‘Stute’s season.

Half Time 1-1

There was no indication of which way this game would go in the second half, with ‘Stute fortunate to be level at all, and the Welders tried to restore their advantage early on with Matthew Ferguson’s free kick tipped over by Muldoon.

‘Stute came desperately close to taking the lead just past the hour mark when Liam Mullan played an exceptional ball through the Welders defence for Kennedy to run onto, and the striker absolutely smashed an effort goalwards, with the ball striking the upright with Jack Mills beaten.

Paul Kee sent on David Parkhouse on 73 minutes and within seconds he had made a significant impact. With his first touch, the former Derry City striker volleyed a brilliant effort onto the inside of the post from 20 yards, and with his second, he turned the ball into the net after Liam Toban had reacted quickest to the rebound before pulling it back for his team mate.

‘Stute needed to respond, but their chances of doing so took a huge blow when they lost striker Kennedy to a hamstring injury with just over 10 minutes remaining.

To their credit however, ‘Stute didn’t let their heads drop and they equalised within seconds of losing their striker, a corner headed back into the area by King and it fell out of the sky onto the left foot of Danny Lafferty, who volleyed the ball brilliantly past Mills for his first Institute goal.

‘Stute pushed hard in the closing stages, but couldn’t force the winning goal, but with both Bangor and Dundela losing elsewhere, this could still prove to be an important point.

Teams

Institute: Gareth Muldoon, Daniel Lafferty, Shane Boyle, Orrin McLaughlin (Conor Quigley 80’), Dylan King, Liam Mullan, Sean Carlin (Jamie Dunne 74’), Michael Harris, Oisin Devlin, Mikhail Kennedy (Tiarnan Kennedy 80’~), BJ Banda (Cormac Burke 60’).

H&W Welders: Jack Mills, Lewis Patterson, James McCarthy, Kyle Owens, Jack Kinner, Craig Harris, Matthew Ferguson (David Parkhouse 72’), Tiarnan O’Connor, Joshua Kee (Liam Toman 45’), Oisin Barr (Michael McLellan 90’), Ewan McCoubrey.

Referee: Louise Thompson.