Match Report – Lisburn Distillery 1 v Warrenpoint Town 0
Lisburn Distillery v Warrenpoint Town (Pre-Season Friendly) – Tuesday 2nd August 2022
Lisburn Distillery welcome Barry Gray’s Championship outfit, Warrenpoint Town, to New Grosvenor on Tuesday evening for our final pre-season game before the 2022/2023 season gets underway properly.
It was the visitors who had the first effort on goal from just outside the box in the first minute of play but the effort did not trouble Distillery goalkeeper, Ethan Carry, who watched the ball go wide of the post.
Barry Johnston’s side did threaten in the 8th minute when Fra McGuiness played Jourdan Shearer through with a fine pass but the striker was forced wide and unable to really get a shot off or pick out a teammate with a cross and in the end, the Town goalkeeper gathered the ball.
The opening goal did come just a minute later and it went in favour of the Whites when a speculative effort from Conall Murray seemed to catch the opposition ‘keeper off guard and found the back of the net to put the home side ahead.
After this the visitors largely controlled the second half with Carry being called into action on three separate occasions to ensure the lead was kept intact and a corner also found a Warrenpoint player unmarked at the back post but fortunately his header went off target.
The Whites did have a couple of sights of goal in the final ten minutes before the break, Shearer tried his luck with a speculative effort from range after spotting the goalkeeper off his line but the ball bounced just wide. Then the same player was played through on goal by Carson Elliott but with only the ‘keeper to beat could not hit the target.
The first half ended with the Whites still in the lead, despite the visitors having most of the ball the home defence and ‘keeper had put in a solid performance so far.
Half Time: Lisburn Distillery 1-0 Warrenpoint Town
There was an early scare in the second half for Distillery when a free kick from about 30 yards was delivered into the box and Carry came a long way off his line but could not fully punch the ball away. Fortunately, when the ball came back into the box a defender was on hand to clear the ball behind for a corner, which came to nothing.
After this, things did quieten done somewhat, though Carry was called into action again just after the hour mark when he pulled off a great save when a headed effort following a corner looked destined for the top corner.
Both sides tried their luck with long-range efforts with just over 20 minutes left to play but the respective goalkeepers were equal to these.
The Whites did see a golden chance to add to their lead go begging in the 76th minute. A cross from the left took a deflection of a defender and fell into the path of a second half substitute about six yards from goal but on the turn and with only the top corner to really aim for the shot ended up going off target.
Things petered out at this stage with few real chances for either side in the closing stages of the game. Though it was in fact Distillery who came closest to extending their lead when they quickly countered following a Town free kick and Dylan Sinnerton found himself clean through on goal but the goalkeeper did well to push the ball over the bar.
The final whistle brought a positive end to pre-season for Distillery and attention now turns to our first competitive game of the season on Saturday at game to PSNI in the League Cup, 2:00pm kick off.
Full Time: Lisburn Distillery 1-0 Warrenpoint Town
Lisburn Distillery; Carry, Grattan, Irvine, Murray, Angus, Higginson, Elliott, McGuiness, Shearer, Ballentine.
Lisburn Distillery substitutes; Robinson, Brannigan, Lynch, Sinnnerton, Smith, Clougherty, A. Trialist, Scott.
Report by Cameron Moore @cameron2604
