Magee’s cracker seals the win for Ducks

Foyle Harps 2 Ballinamallard 3

A gutsy win away from home enabled the young Ducks to regain joint top spot in the First Division.

The opening was a little cagey from both teams with Ballinamallard settling the better on the ball and Harps taking a more direct approach.

Captain Oscar Timlin and the ever-dependable Daniel Gawley alongside him along with full backs Cahir O’neill and Sean Donnelly dealt with the threat.

An exchange of passes from a free kick led to Rhys Murphy bravely out-jumping his marker and heading the ball down to Matthew Garrity who finished well to record the opening goal.

The next 10 minutes were end to end with Jay Largo-elis and Adam Magee getting on the ball more but the final pass was proving elusive.

An equaliser arrived when a corner was partially cleared allowing the Harps player to slam the ball into the roof of the net despite the best efforts of Tomas Mcgirr.

Garrity almost found the net shortly after when he forced the Harps keeper into a top save before the home side scored a free kick to take the lead.

The teams were to be level at the break, however, when a swift counter attack, involving the lively Joshua Humes, resulted in Garrity rounding the goalkeeper and equalising.

In the second half Ballinamallard demonstrated some good periods of controlled possession with Daithi Teague and Rafa Mccoy starting to cause problems for the opposition.

The winner arrived when a sliced clearance was picked up by Donnelly and he found Adam Magee who took one touch and thumped a 25-yard strike into the net to secure a valuable three points.