Firsts beat Grange Rangers

NI Amateur League 2C

Carryduff Colts 7 – 0 Grange Rangers

Carryduff Colts returned to league action in some style when they cruised to their biggest win of the season with a 7-0 win over Grange Rangers.

Mattie McNally stole the show with a great hat-trick, including a couple of superb strikes, as the Ballyclare outfit didn’t manage to test goalkeeper Odhran Devlin all day

Colts quickly grabbed control of the game driven on by the excellent Fergus McBride in midfield and took the lead after seven minutes when Sparky Hegney, McBride and Paddy McEvoy combined in a great move before McNally applied the finishing touch.

And it was two on the quarter of an hour mark when Darragh Brownlee scored from the penalty spot after Sean Irwin was brought down in the box.

With Rory McDonnell and Conor Cassidy rarely tested defensively they both contributed to Colts playing out from the back and dominating possession with Michael Deeny and McBride ensuring the passing was crisp throughout.

Joe Sweeney, playing at left back, made a series of marauding runs on the left and nearly created a third when he broke into the box but was unable to finish.

The third goal arrived on the half hour when a powerful shot by Brownlee was pushed across the goal by the goalkeeper but Paddy McEvoy, who also had a good game, was able to apply the finishing touch.

McBride nearly added a fourth three minutes later when he forced the goalkeeper into making a terrific save from a drive reminiscent of his wonderful goal from a couple of weeks ago.

But the inevitable fourth came just before the break when McNally set up Brownlee for his second goal of the game.

Second half began in the same vein and Colts had made it five within four minutes of the restart. Brownlee danced around three defenders and played in Irwin for a deserved first goal of the season after he had played superbly up front.

Colts bench was the strongest of the season and when Kealan Devlin, Jonny Henry and Paul Maguire all entered the fray with half an hour to go it was evident there would be no let up.

Henry went close almost immediately when he raced clear of the defence and fired in an unstoppable shot and was so unlucky to see it bounce off the underside of the bar.

And on the 70th minute the big striker played his part in the sixth goal when he played a brilliant one-two with McNally who finished with aplomb.

On 73 minutes it was seven when McNally, who tormented the visitors’ defence all day, received a great pass from Kealan Devlin, cut in from the left and fired in a terrific curling shot into the top right hand corner of the net.

Henry went close on a couple more occasions, skipper Rory McDonnell also threatened on a couple of occasions with headers that just went over the bar and Colts had to settle for seven to move them back into contention towards the top of the table.

Carryduff Colts: O Devlin, Hegney, Sweeney (Maguire), McDonnell, Cassidy, McBride (Devlin), McEvoy, Deeny, Irwin, McNally, Brownlee (Henry)

*Next Saturday Colts take on league leaders St Mary’s at Valley Leisure Centre at 2pm