Match Reports 2005/2006

[Dinger]

get back to work rusty : )
like the 3 points on Sunday

was a good game, I'm still sore as f**k from it so dreadin training & the game on sat.
the first game I thought was a better game & a draw would of been right for that had I not f**ked my timing for a header

hope you's do win the leaague as you's are the most consistent team & for the fact it'll piss a few people off.

[doc]

Division 2

Riverdale 3 - 2 Ballykeel f.c.


Unfortunately for us that was our first defeat in ten outings in the league and its just a matter now of digging deep and fighting like f**k to the end of the season. This game started at a frantic pace and was even stevens for the whole of the half, but somehow we went in 2 nil down at the break. Riverdale scored direct from a corner to open the scoring and where our keeper was god only f**king knows as that shouldn't happen in football. Their second just as we were applying the pressure was another mistake by the keeper. Their striker scuffed a shot and to our amazement it trickled in by the keeper. Second half it was game on or so i thought. Rusty came close with a good drive which cleared the bar but within seconds Riverdale were up the other end to cash in on another freebie, no sorry a gift wrapped present. A bread and butter cross for the keeper was misjudged and he ran into our defender, dropped the ball and it was tapped in. This was nothing short of f**king shocking, considering every one of their goals were given to them on a big shiny plate. At this stage with the heads down it was a matter of weathering the storm for the next 15 mins. With 25 mins to go the Keel went for broke and and threw an extra man up front. Firstly Stevie Mc Kay struck a screamer from 25 yards into the top corner and then their keeper made a couple of tidy saves to keep the score down. Ten mins from time i smacked a free kick which struck the inside of the post and there was Hami following in to make it two. At this stage Riverdale were just about out of steam and in the very last minute had their keeper to thank for preventing the equaliser. A great corner was swung in for Rusty to hammer a header straight for the top corner but somehow the keeper pulled off a great save and tipped it over the bar. Game over and a good win for Riverdale who are definitely a team to be reckoned with. Three terrible howlers today cost us dearly but thats football. The only positives was the comeback and coming so close to getting an equaliser.

[doc]

Sat 11th Feb


Cloughmills Thistle 2 - 3 Ballykeel f.c.


I'll start off by saying that the scoreline flatters Thistle a bit as it should have been a bigger winning margin for the Keel. Conditions out in Armoy were of the monsoon variety as it lashed down from the heavens and blew a gale the whole of the first half. This was a must win and the Keel started very brightly taking the game to Thistle from the first whistle. The Keel opened the scoring with a simple finish from full back Rab Ritchie after 20 mins and shortly after exteded that lead thanks to a scrappy finish from Mark Mc Kay. Chances to really kill off this game came and went and against the run of play Thistle pulled one back just before the break. Second half turned into a real slog as the pitch cut up really bad, but it was the Keel who continued to turn on the style against a big strong Thistle team. Just on the hour mark Mark Mc Kay went on a dazy run down the left, cut in and gave the keeper no chance with a great effort. Have to say that during this period Keel passed up more opportunities to kill the game and were nearly made to pay come the end. A freak goal from Thistle really put the wind up us when an attempted cross was caught in a gale and somehow swerved all over the place into the back of the net. The Keel held on at the end for a deserved win in conditions that didn't befit a football match, and stretches our lead to five points at the top over Riverdale. With the team at full strengh and starting to play again it sets us up nicely for next week's make or break game at home to Galgorm. Win or lose next week this league title will go down to the wire.

[Mighty Reds]

Terrible place to play at down in Armoy. The pitch dug up when we played them and it was windy that Day aswell.

How's the knee now Doc??

[doc]

out for at least another three weeks mate if not longer, as im definitely not going to rush back. i want to be in a good state as the end of season could be a cracker with alot of teams still in contention for the title. After our last two results the confidence is creeping back into the team just at the right time so i'll be happy to be back for the mid weekers and cup games and hopefully a successful run in for the Keel, cheers.

[homers-num4]

just retire doc you are past it

[doc]

not till i get a crack in the first division with the keel mate

[doc]

Carlsberg Cup 2nd Rd


Shore Wanderers 1 - 2 Ballykeel f.c.


This game started off very brightly with the Keel showing their opposition plenty of respect in the early exchanges. This tho soon faded as for the next 20 mins they peppered the Shore goal with some brilliant football. The opening goal came after a scramble in the Shore box with the ball being laid to myself on a plate and from 20 yards i hit my first of the season giving the keeper no chance. At this stage the Keel were bombing forward but to no avail as the Shore defence were on top of their game. Towards the end of the half Shore got an equaliser after the keeper dropped the ball and this give them the confidence to have a good go at us. For the opening 20mins of the second half it was Shore's turn to play abit of football, without threatening our goal too much. A couple of half chances were well saved by Smythie in nets for the Keel. After this the Keel seemed to find their second wind and went close on a couple of occassions with their keeper pulling off a couple of great saves. Just as the game was heading for extra time, Justy Rowe nipped in after abit of hesitation in the home defence to curl a beauty in off the keeper's post. From the kick off Shore had a glorious chance of an equaliser but their big forward fluffed his effort at Smythie. Good win for the Keel against a very good Shore team who battled and made us fight all the way. Rusty and McBurney joint m.o.m for the Keel.

[thelawnmowerman]

Doc were is your match report for saturday?

ill prob need to prof read it and amend it to tell the truth before you post it lol

[burnso]

doc weres this match report.........will make interesting reading!

[doc]

Sat 1st April

'April Fools Day'


Ballykeel f.c. 1 - 1 St. Comgalls


And trust me i've never seen as many fools on both sides as the 'slabbers' threatened to ruin a good game of football. The game started with the tackles flying in all over the pitch, players squaring up to each other and the usual hard men slabbering to each other. First half saw the Keel take a real grip on the game with Justy Rowe on fire in the centre of the park for the Keel. His reward came after 20 mins when he rose and headed home from a Ronnie Balmer corner. The Keel had a few decent chances to extend that lead before half time but the strikers had a real dose of two left feet syndrome. The Saints weren't here just to make up the numbers and played some good football aswell in the first half, but with no real clear cut chances. Right on the first half whistle and against the run of play the Saints equalised, when a free kick from the left was headed home from just inside the box, when the keeper and defenders totally misjudged the flight of the ball and the big centre forward nipped in to score.

Second half started with a regalvanised Saints on fire and pushing hard for another goal. Only for some great last ditch defending from Marty and Rusty we surely would have fallen behind. The Keel gradually forced their way back into the game as both sides went all out for the winning goal. A Ronnie Balmer pile driver from 25 yards was superbly turned round the post by the Saints keeper. At the other end the Saints had two glorious chances to pull away in this game. First their wee striker found himself with only the keeper to beat and having rounded him somehow had his goalbound shot kicked off the line by Rusty, but in truth it was easier to score than miss. Then a rasping free kick from outside the box was to hot for Smythie to handle, but amazingly the ball bounced off his chest and managed to trickle past four inrushing Saints players. The Keel then had a great chance of their own to win the game. Stephen McKay received a ball at the edge of the box, turned inside a defender and popped the ball past the outrushing keeper, only to see it go agonisinly wide of the post.

Both teams continued to threaten right up to the final whistle and apart from some early skirmishes and continued slabbering it was a great game of football. It was end to end stuff for most of the match. Fair play to St. Comgalls who played like a team near the top of this division and not the bottom. Good luck in your efforts to stay up lhads.

[thelawnmowerman]

good man Doc, have to admit thats a good account of the game, but how do you keep such notes when ur playin? have to admit there was some slabbering doc, but nothing that bad, it stayed on the pitch, even wee rusty :-) laughed it off after the game. our wee striker did miss a while sitter, nerves got the better of him. although u lads did lump him a couple of times :-)

did joe get them photos developed? had to laugh, one of ur lads came round to use r pump to pump up ur 49p footballs and r manager asked him whats the crack with joe and the photos? he said it was for his web site! we all pissed ur selves laughing! :-)

have u a match tonite? galgorm?
or r u gonna watch the champions on setanta?

[doc]

thelawnmowerman said:

good man Doc, have to admit thats a good account of the game, but how do you keep such notes when ur playin? have to admit there was some slabbering doc, but nothing that bad, it stayed on the pitch, even wee rusty :-) laughed it off after the game. our wee striker did miss a while sitter, nerves got the better of him. although u lads did lump him a couple of times :-)

did joe get them photos developed? had to laugh, one of ur lads came round to use r pump to pump up ur 49p footballs and r manager asked him whats the crack with joe and the photos? he said it was for his web site! we all pissed ur selves laughing! :-)

have u a match tonite? galgorm?
or r u gonna watch the champions on setanta?

of course mate, straight after the Galgorm match

i never came on till the start of the second half, mentally im fine, physically not so good.

it was a new camera joe had, think he was testing it for quality

[thelawnmowerman]

i thought u were a sub, never noticed u in the first half, but seen u at r side second! but didnt want to speculate incase ur were on from the start havin a quite game.

good luck tonite.

[doc]

good luck yourselves !

they're keeping me fit for the BIG games ;D

[doc]

Wed 5th April


Ballykeel f.c. 0 - 0 Galgorm Blues


A great chance was missed tonight to put Galgorm to bed in a game in which the Keel played out of their skins. The match was swinging from end to end with the Keel having the upper hand in the opening stages. Barry Bonnes hit the post after a great move, and time and time again Barry Weir in the Galgorm nets thwarted our efforts on goal. Galgorm played their part in the first half but Smythie in nets for the Keel hadn't one meaningful shot to save. Second half saw the Keel face a stiff breeze but again the chances fell to us to kill this match off. Galgorm played some nice football at times but they were badly lacking in the final third and never looked like scoring. Near the end the Keel had a couple of great chances to win it. Firstly Bonzi followed in on a fierce shot from Justy Rowe which bounced back into his path off the keeper but somehow he was up quickly to deflect the effort round the post. Then big Kenny had the chance of the game. The big man out foxed the two centre halfs with some deft footwork which left him one on one with the keeper but instead of a cool finish he knocked it over the bar. There was still time at the end for Galgorm to nearly steal it. Their first proper effort on target was heading for the top corner but smythie pulled off a stunning save to keep the scores level.

Great match tonight watched by a big crowd and definitely 2 points dropped. Still think this league will go down to the last match with everything so tight at the minute. All the best Galgorm for the rest of the season.

[doc]

Sat 8th April


Ballykeel f.c. 4 - 1 Cullybackey Olympic


The Keel extended their lead at the top to 4 points with a hard fought win over Cullybackey. The first half was played in atrocious conditions with the wind and driving rain making it a real struggle to play football. The game eventually sprang into life on 20 mins when the Keel scored the opening goal. A defence splitting pass by myself put Stephen McKay clean through on goal and he made no mistake, driving the ball past the onlooking keeper. Shortly after, a great run by makeshift striker Rusty saw him beat a couple of men up the line before whipping in a great ball to Bonzi whose scrambled effort was kicked from behind the line, tho play was waved on as the ref couldn't keep up with play and couldn't see it. This seemed to effect the Keel as Cullybackey went up the other end and equalised with a great headed goal to leave the score level at half time.

Second half, with the wind in our backs was all one way traffic as we set up camp in their half. Shots were being fired in from all over the place as the Keel upped the ante in their efforts to go in front. The goal eventually arrived after 70mins when sub Ossie Wylie let rip from inside the box giving the visiting keeper no chance. Stephen McKay then made it 3 with a simple tap in shortly after. Goal of the game was saved for the last one, with Rusty nipping past a couple of defenders before unleashing one into the top corner. With four key players unavaible today this was a great win for the Keel and sets us up nicely for a tough game on monday night away to Steadfast.

[doc]

Mon 10th April


Steadfast 2 - 2 Ballykeel f.c


This game started very brightly with Steafast having 3 half chances to open the scoring in the first five mins alone. This came back to haunt our hosts as shortly after big Kenny took advantage of some dodgy defending to nip in for a simple tap in. This game was now flowing from end to end and it was no surprise when Steadfast equalised. More s**tty defending from a normally tight Keel back four let them in for a very soft goal. Not to be outdone by s**tty defending Steadfast got in on the act again to allow big Kenny to fire home his second from just outside the six yard box. This was the time to kill off the game for the keel, but only for some missed chances and last ditch defending the score remained at two one. Just before the half Steadfast were handed another lifeline back into the game. An innocuous back pass to our stand in keeper Studs bobbled over his foot with no one near him as he went to clear and he could only stand embarassed and watch as the ball trickled in.

The second half was a real ding dong affair with both sets of forwards guilty of some sloppy finishing. Studs in nets for us nearly boo booed again late on when another attampted clearance bobbled over his foot again but this time he redeemed himself to make a last ditch clearance. For the Keel Ronnie Balmer missed a sitter of a header late on and Justin Rowe smacked the post. Game over and all in all a fair result but points dropped by the keel. Must also add there was a man from each side sent off near the end after a bit of handbags.

[doc]

Wed 19th April


Braid United 0 - 4 Ballykeel f.c.


With things so tight in the league run in this was a game the Keel had to win, and that they did with their most polished display of the season so far. Braid's only real chance of the game fell in the first 30 seconds when the ball fell invitingly to their centre forward inside the box but Smythie in nets came out bravely and pulled off a great save. After this it was one way traffic, with the Keel playing some quality football around the park. The wee Braid keeper kept his team in it in the first half with a series of great saves and at that point we thought it was going to be one of them nights.

The second half started with the Keel forcing a series of corners but they proved to be of no threat to Braid who have alot of big lads in their side. The only way to beat this side was to keep the ball on the deck and that proved to be the case for the opening goal. A flowing move from back to front saw the ball arrive at the feet of Justin Rowe at the edge of the box. The big man dropped a shoulder and sped by the home defence to give the keeper no chance with a clinical finish into the corner. By now Justy was running them ragged and with 15 left he converted a simple tap in after the keeper could only parry a rasping drive from Kenny Wright. His hatrick was completed five minutes later when he went on a dazzling run past 3 defenders, showe the keeper one way and cooly trickled the ball over the line. Justy then scored his fourth goal of the game to cap off a man of the match performance. This time he burst into the box and shot into the top corner to finish this match off in style.

A great result which sets us up for a mouth watering tie against the Reds next week.

[doc]

Sat 22nd April

Last 16 Carlsberg Cup


Randalstown Athletic 0 - 4 Ballykeel f.c.


This game started off with Athletic taking the game to the Keel right from the whistle literally. A great passing move up the left in the first 30 seconds saw a great ball swung into the box and unbelievably with the goal at their mercy at least 3 incoming strikers were unable to turn the ball home. This set the trend of play for the opening 20 minutes with attack after attack coming fom Athletic but with no real cutting edge from their strikers. The Keel eventually muscled their way back into the game with Justy Rowe pulling the strings all over the park. The opening goal arrived when Mc Burney took advantage of a static back line to fire a cracking shot over the keeper and into the top corner. The Keel then went 2 up shortly after when a defence splitting ball put steven mc kay in to cooly flick past the keeper and into the empty net. Just before half time Justy Rowe went on a trademark run out the left beating a couple of defenders before being emptied in the box as he bore down on goal but to our total disgust the ref waved play on and denied us a stonewall penalty. At this point i'd like to say that his retribution arrived shortly after when he fell on his arsehole to the delight of both sidelines. ;D

Second half started with both teams continuing to play attractive football on the deck with play swinging from end to end. At this stage Athletic were still well in the game but with their strikers not on their game all their good build up play was often wasted by some woeful attempts on goal. The game was then killed off mid way throgh the half when a smart ball from myself set mc burney free out on the left and his first time cross was easily converted at the back post by young Steven mc Kay for his second of the game. Number 4 came soon after with another simple tap in for Ronnie Balmer. The referee then capped off a great performance when he waved way another blatant penalty claim when Justin Rowe was clipped in the box. I must add at this point that it wasn't a dirty challenge but definitely a foul and the way Justy fell he ended up breaking his collar bone and putting him out for the rest of the season.

Definitely a great game of football and had Athletic finished their numerous early chances this would have had a totally different outcome to it. Have to say Bremner has a well organised footballing side on his hands there and the future definitely looks bright for them (find a striker). All the best for the rest of the season lads.

[doc]

Wed 26th April


Randalstown Reds 2 - 2 Ballykeel f.c.


With a bumper crowd on both sidelines out to watch this big match it definitely lived up to its billing. The Reds came out on fire in the first 20 mins against the Keel and had the ball in the net in the opening minutes, but this was over ruled for offside. The Reds tactics early on was to get the ball pumped up to their big centre forward who was causing chaos in the visitors penalty box. The Keel then forced their way into the game and opened the scoring with a great finish by big Kenny Wright but this was cancelled out shortly after when a deflected shot high into the top corner levelled things up for the Reds. For the rest of the half the Keel got a real grip of things and had the Reds pegged back in their own half for long periods but a resolute Reds back 4 stood firm and kept the score level at half time.

Second half started with the Keel throwing everything at the Reds keeper but boy did he have one of those nights. Two breathtaking saves early on denied the Keel taking the lead. On a rare forray forward the Reds only real effort of the half was an absolute screamer from their wee midfielder who looped one into the top corner from 25 yards out. This should have brought the Reds out of their shell but it didn't. For the last half hour of this game the Keel threw everything at the Reds who continued to defend very well. In this period the keeper made at least another five breathtaking saves, flicking balls round posts and over the bar with a couple of last ditch headed clearances off the line. The Keel finally made the breakthrough with 5 mins to go after a hand ball in the box resulted in a penalty. Ronnie Balmer calmed his nerves to finish cooly to set up a barn storming finish. A flurry of corners near the end and last ditch defending kept the scoreline level right to the whistle much to the relief of the Reds i should think.

A great game of football against a very talented Reds team whose defence in particular battled to the very death. Points dropped by the Keel but thats life and football. All the best lads for the rest of the season.

[back4]

Doc pretty fair report ,you had a very good team out last night having 3 ticked players helps a big lot at this stage of the season . We where missing Compton Dripps and McKendry who would have been playing and I know yous where missing Justy .Having a game on Mon night did not help