SUN SETS FOR CUP MINNOWS

Holders to four at Windsor Park to book date with Larne

BY

LINFIELD brushed aside gritty underdogs Oxford Sunnyside at Windsor Park to advance to the last 16 of the Irish Cup yesterday.

While David Healy’s side are the current cup holders, the memories of being dumped out by Queen’s University in 2020 were fresh enough to ensure no chances were taken against the Mid-Ulster Intermediate A side.

Early on, a strong Linfield line-up that included the likes of Jimmy Callacher, Kirk Millar, Jordan Stewart and Stephen Fallon didn’t so much dominate possession as play piggy-in-themiddle against their outmatched opponents.

Still, with the amateurs from Lurgan more than willing to run the hard yards, the Blues struggled to get a clear sight of goal until the 25th minute, when Stewart lofted a beautiful pass into the path of Marty Donnelly, who smacked the bar with a controlled volley.

The gutsy visitors responded well to that scare, pushing themselves up the pitch to enjoy their best spell of the game, with Michael Toland, Kevin McAlinden and Warner Mullen linking up to threaten the Linfield goal.

Space did begin to open up for Healy’s men as the half wore on but none of them had brought their shooting boots as Millar, Stewart, Fallon and Ahmed Salam all fired either off target or straight into the mass of bodies defending the Sunnyside goal.

It took until a minute before the break for the visitors to yield as a goalmouth scramble saw Salam’s header saved by Kieran McKerr only for Kyle McClean to follow up and prod the ball over the line from a yard out.

McClean nearly made it two on the restart but his glanced header from a Millar corner flew inches over the bar.

Donnelly (right) did double the Blues’ lead in the 50th minute, cracking a low free-kick past McKerr after Stewart had been chopped down just outside the box. But Sunnyside dusted themselves down and proved they wouldn’t surrender meekly.

They carved out a halfchance that skipper Peter McCann hoisted over from the edge of the area before Toland fizzed an effort wide from McAlinden’s incisive throughball.

Linfield re-focused and made it 3-0 in the 69th minute with the simplest of goals as Niall Quinn’s inswinging corner from the right was butted home by striker Andrew Clarke at the back post.

Quinn put another chance on a plate for Stewart 10 minutes later but the midfielder shanked his shot wide from ten yards out.

The Blues then set the seal on the win when young substitute striker Ethan Devine nodded in Millar’s whipped corner in injury-time.