Bass Irish Cup 6th Round

Saturday 19th February 

Armagh City 2 Glentoran 2 

Zico Rescue's Glens

Elliott to the Rescue..

Today at Holm Park the sun shone all day and it turned into a classic cup tie on a bog of a pitch.  The home side 7th in division were by far the better team in the first half and could have gone have taken the lead as early as the first minute when Dean Smyth was tripped the box but Referee Ferry played away.  City then missed 3-4 great chances twice shooting over the top, a free header over the bar and a shot from 7 yards which was straight at Gough.

The Glens did however take the lead through Rory Hamill after 18 minutes, his first goal of the season from a curling free kick.  The Glens really should have gone on from there, the it seemed to spur the Armagh side on even more, and they grabbed their deserved equaliser through Kyle Neill who squeezed his shot in off the upright at the near post from a low cross from the left.  Nearing the end of the half Stuart Elliott was played through the middle one on one with ex Glen Man Brian Hutchinson but his run wasn't helped by the atrocious pitch which bobbled just before he struck his shot which was well stopped by the keeper.

Half Time Armagh City 1 Glentoran 1

The home side then received a few bookings for rash challenges on Scott Young and Paul Leeman. Armagh then took the lead when a high cross from the right hand side found Alan Murphy unmarked in the middle and he headed past Gough.  The home side could have made it three 2 minutes later when a McCombe error let in Gary McKinstry but his shot was brilliantly stopped by the legs of Gough. The Glens pushed forward in numbers in the last twenty minutes trying desperately to grab the equaliser.

To help the cause Coyle brought on David Rainey for Pete Batey and Tim McCann came on  for Brian Russell, and Rainey looked good down the left wing, one move in particular when he beat two players and cut inside to shoot but layed his shot off to Rory Hamill who hit a great shot with the outside of his boot but Hutchinson dived low to his left and held the ball well.  Rainey who was proving to be a menace in his 6 minute game was subbed shortly after when he went for a high ball in the box but was caught accidentally by the Armagh defender, and the both players hit the deck, the Armagh player recovered but Rainey after 4 minutes of treatment had to go off, he was in a lot of pain, probably a broken rib or two.  His replacement was John Kennedy who did well down the left whipping in dangerous crosses and showing his old skill with the step over by skinning the number two Leckey.  

With five minutes to go the Armagh defence were doing everything in their power to keep the Glens out, Nixon, Hamill and Young all wasting good chances inside the final five minutes, with the game heading into injury time the Glentoran fans had given up hope and had started to head for the exit, but enter Zico to the Rescue.  Tim McCann crossed but it was blocked and his return cross picked out Young on the edge of the box who scuffed his shot but landed to the feet of Stuart Elliott who struck past Hutchinson from 8 yards with his left foot, the fans were on the pitch, Zico was delighted, what a relief, what a let off.  With 3 minutes into injury time the Glens played their best football of the match Young finding Kennedy out wide who found Hamill in the centre and his powerful dig was brilliant tipped past the post by Hutchinson, and from the corner kick the ball was just knocked past the near post by Gilzean and was met by the Final Whistle from Ferry, Unlucky for the home side who did deserve to win the tie but never count the Champions out of anything, we now have a great chance to make the next round, Replay Tuesday 22nd February Kick Off 7:30pm

Glentoran Gough 8, Nixon 6, Ferguson 6, Leeman 6, McCombe 5, Young 7, Russell 5, Hamill 8, Gilzean 7, Batey 6, Elliott 7 Subs McCann 6, Rainey 7, Kennedy 7

Referee John Ferry 5