Match Report v Moyola Park (a) 30/3/24

Moyola Park v Lisburn Distillery (Playr-Fit Teamwear Premier Intermediate League) – Saturday 30th March 2024

It was a trip to the north coast on Saturday for Lisburn Distillery to face Moyola Park for the second time in a month, when the sides met at New Grosvenor earlier in March the Whites ran out 5-1 winners so a repeat scoreline would have been ideal.

There was one change to the Distillery line-up following the previous week’s 3-1 win against Dollingstown, Fra Brennan dropped out with Justin Grattan coming into the side in his place.

The home side had the first opportunity on goal after three minutes, a clearance from Ethan Carry caught up in the strong wind that was blowing around the ground and only got as far as the edge of the box where a Moyola player shot first time, but the Whites goalkeeper was able to hold the ball.

Early in the game the visitors attempted to get the ball out into the wide areas but found themselves repeatedly frustrated by the offside trap. The Whites first real sight of goal was in the 12th minute when a great pass from Josh Lynch put Ryan McNickle through on goal, but his shot was blocked by the covering Robert McLean who also blocked the Distillery striker’s follow up attempt.

Distillery would soon regret this missed opportunity as a minute later Caiolan Brennan danced his way though the Distillery defence and passed to the unmarked Alex Doherty who fired Moyola into the lead from the edge of the box.

Things went from bad to worse for the visitors four minutes after going behind when a Breandan O’Neill backpass made its way past Carry and trickled over the line to make it 2-0.

With 18 minutes on the clock Gerard Storey had a chance to reduce the deficit when a cross from the left found him in the box but his shot was blocked by Andrew Findlay, in goals for the opposition, and five minutes later Lynch headed a Woods cross just wide after an O’Neill free kick was cleared but recycled into the danger area.

For the remainder of the half Distillery had most of the possession but ultimately Findlay and the Moyola goal came under little to no threat and the home sides two goal advantage remained in place at the interval.

Half Time: Moyola Park 2-0 Lisburn Distillery

There was a positive response from Distillery early in the second half and in the 48th minute O’Neill and Jack Berry linked up down the left with the former sending a low cross into the box, this was deflected upwards by a defender though and in the end McNickle could not get his final effort on target.

Perhaps had the Whites scored early in the second half they could have salvaged something from the game, but a tough task was made all the harder in the 56th minute when Dean Lewis was shown a second yellow card for handling a Lynch pass out to the right wing.

Just past the hour mark Distillery were awarded a free kick right on the edge of the box and McLean was shown a yellow card for the tackle with some Distillery players protesting that a red card should have been shown for denying a goalscoring opportunity but in truth there were covering Moyola defenders. When the free kick was eventually taken by Storey it deflected off the wall and behind for a corner.

Up the other end Richard Vauls had a shot on goal when a corner found him unmarked but he could not get his volley on target and with 15 minutes to go substitute Jamie Devenny thought he had pulled the Whites back into the game with a headed effort, but the celebrations were cut short by the offside flag.

With four minutes left on the clock it was the home sides turn to be frustrated by the offside flag just after they thought they had made it 3-0 and deep into injury time Berry shot well off target after the ball fell for him on the edge of the box.

In the end it was a day to forget in what has been a frustratingly inconsistent season for Distillery, with five games to go we now find ourselves sitting in 11th spot and nine points clear of bottom placed PSNI and four points off the top half of the table but as is often the case in the Premier Intermediate League not all teams have played the same number of games.

Next up for the Whites is a shorter trip to The Bluebell on Friday night to face Ballymacash Rangers in a game that could have a big say in the race for promotion and the league title.

Full Time: Moyola Park 2-0 Lisburn Distillery

Lisburn Distillery; Carry, Grattan, O’Neill, Woods, Whiteway, Lynch, Berry, Lewis, McNickle, Storey, Tully

Lisburn Distillery substitutions; McConnellogue, Geddis, Sharkey, Devenny (for McNickle, 53 mins), Newell, McCart