Glens overpower Girvan
The Glens produced an impressive performance away to promotion contenders Girvan to come away with a thoroughly deserved and convincing victory on a freezing cold afternoon.
It took some time for the match to get going, with both teams trying to get used to the strong wind which was blowing into the Glencairn men’s faces.
A quick throw-in by Ryan McArdle in the 16th minute released Del McNab on the left and his attempted cross almost caught out Girvan keeper Scott Johnstone, the ball dropping just over the bar onto the roof of the net. Two minutes later McNab was in again on the left side of the penalty area, Johnstone parrying his shot across goal before defender Mark Doolan made a crucial block as Stewart Hall tried to convert on the rebound.
The Glens got the reward their play had deserved as they took the lead in the 25th minute. McKay refused to give up on possession as he dribbled into the penalty area. He managed to force the ball towards Sean McGuire, and the ball finally broke to Hall who rolled the ball under Johnstone from 12 yards.
The lead was almost doubled in the 29th minute as Rhys Donaldson’s diagonal pass found Jay McKay on the left, and the striker skipped past his marker before seeing his shot blocked.
It came as no surprise on the balance of play when Glencairn made it 2-0 in the 38th minute. A ball over the top of the defence saw McNab time his run to perfection, only for Johnstone to parry the shot and McNab raced in to roll the ball into the empty net.
Glencairn made a number of swift breaks in the second half and made one of them count in the 73rd minute. They made it 3-0 through McGuire’s forceful play in the centre of the park. He linked with sub Fraser Team and then McNab, who then showed great awareness to roll the ball to McKay for him to score.
There was still no let-up from Glencairn though, and things got worse for the hosts in the 76th minute as defender John Frame was shown a straight red card for impeding Team in the act of shooting but Tony Fraser blazed the resultant penalty kick high over.