Match Report v Warrenpoint Town – 21/9/24

Warrenpoint Town v Lisburn Distillery (Playr-Fit Teamwear Premier Intermediate League) – Saturday 21st September 2024

After no competitive games since the Queens University 0-0 draw three weeks prior, Lisburn Distillery made the trip to Milltown for the second time this season to face Warrenpoint Town. Last time out Distillery went down 2-0 to Gary Boyle’s side after extra time, despite a positive performance from the Whites.

There were three changes to the visitor’s line-up, captain Fra Brennan was serving a suspension after being sent off in the aforementioned Queens game and Josh Lynch, who was making his first competitive appearance of the season, replaced him. Matthew Hanna also came in for his debut and Aaron Cochrane made his full debut with Joe Tully and Mark McKee making way respectively.

The game started brightly for the home side with a couple of early corners and crosses into the box. In the fourth minute, one of these crosses towards the back post, following a short corner, looked like it might go out of play but was kept alive by a Warrenpoint player who forced the ball towards the middle of the box but thankfully, Johnny Angus was on hand to clear away the danger.

Four minutes later, Gary Warwick found space out on the right for Distillery and crossed low towards Hanna; the debutant was unable to control the ball for a shot but was able to tee up Cochrane, who could not keep his effort below the bar.

The next Distillery opportunity to score was in the 15th minute when Dean Lewis found Kyle Flynn with a good cross from the right but the left sided player’s header was straight at Daniel Devine. Before this the Whites had a huge let-off when Michael Leddy managed to get the better of the defence and make his way into the box but seemed to lose his footing and in the end his tame effort trickled across the face of goal before the ball was cleared by Dylan Whiteway.

After this, the game turned quite scrappy for a while with little action of note, Jack Kinner and Diarmuid O’Hanlon both had efforts on goal for their respective sides but neither Devine or Lorcan Donnelly were troubled by these. The next real talking point of note came five minutes before the break when Whiteway felt he had been fouled by Declan Loye out in the right channel while trying to clear the ball downfield and made his feelings known to both the referee and Loye, with both players eventually finding their names in the officials’ book for their troubles.

It looked like it was going to be 0-0 at the break when Jim O’Hanlon sent the ball into the box from the right and found his namesake Diarmuid but Lewis blocked his shot and the ball deflected out to the left. There, former Distillery player, Conall Murray, picked the loose ball up and crossed towards the back post and Jim O’Hanlon rose highest to head past Donnelly and give the home side the lead three minutes before the interval.

Barry Johnston’s side did have an opportunity to level with what would prove to be the last kick of the half but Cochrane shot over the bar from a Hanna cross when the midfielder might feel he should have at least hit the target.

Half Time: Warrenpoint Town 1-0 Lisburn Distillery

If the ending of the first half was bad, the Whites got off to a disastrous start to the second half as the home side won the ball back in the middle of the pitch two minutes in and played the ball out wide to the left. The ball was then quickly played down the line to Diarmuid O’Hanlon who beat the Whites defence and finished well into the bottom corner to double the Whites deficit.

Supporters barely had a chance to catch their breath when the Whites were back in the game with less than five minutes of the second half gone; Kyle Flynn scoring with a free kick from 25 yards after Lewis had been fouled.

After finding a foothold back into the game, Distillery never really pushed on from this and the home side looked more likely to add to their lead. At one point, the Whites struggled to clear their lines following a long throw into their box and the ball dangerously ping-ponged around the box for a few nervous moments before eventually being cleared.

Warrenpoint added to their lead just before the hour mark when a poor touch and clearance following a back pass to Donnelly saw Diarmuid O’Hanlon get on the ball and when he went down while trying to round Angus the referee pointed to the penalty spot. The young Distillery ‘keeper went the right way and got a hand to Leddy’s effort but could not keep the ball from crossing the line to make it 3-1.

Whites manager Barry Johnston made a couple of substitutions in an attempt to salvage something from the game but again it was the home side who almost scored their fourth of the game in the 67th minute but Leddy fluffed his shot and Donnelly did well to turn substitute Rory Powell’s follow up effort over the crossbar.

Leddy make no mistake three minutes later when he picked up another poor Distillery clearance and played the ball to Shane Haughey who then knocked the ball back to his teammate, who sidestepped the Distillery defender and finished into the bottom corner to well and truly put the game to bed.

The misery was piled on in the closing minutes when Christopher Crane and substitute Tony Tumelty added further goals to the Warrenpoint tally to make it a second defeat of the season for the Whites at Milltown.

After a positive start to the league it was a difficult blow for the Whites supporters to take but there is nothing to do but shake it off and look ahead to the next game, which as it stands is Saturday week at home to Tobermore United in the league.

Full Time: Warrenpoint Town 6-1 Lisburn Distillery

Lisburn Distillery; Donnelly, Lewis, Whiteway, Lynch, Cochrane, Warwick, Flynn. Grattan, Angus, Kinner, Hanna

Lisburn Distillery substitutions; Newell, Glackin (for Whiteway, 56 mins), Morrow (for Kinner, 78 mins), Stewart (for Warwick, 61 mins), McCar