Ballinamallard’s Dale Noble and Portadown’s Joel Adams contest the ball in mid air
George Wilson Cup
Ballinamallard United Reserves 4
Portadown Reserves 1
A three goal blast in a 10 minute first half spell paved the way for Ballinamallard Reserves to take a step closer to a George Wilson Cup semi-final spot.
It was after 18 minutes that they struck the first blow against an eager Portadown second string.
There was a good run down the left flank by Johnny Courtney to set them on their way. A neat pull back to Kane Connor saw the striker hit a cracking effort into the top corner from 25 yards.
Less than 90 seconds later they rocked the visitors back and doubled their lead.
This time Connor and Dale Noble linked well on the right flank. Noble took the ball with his back to goal, turned beautifully and struck a swerving shot into the Portadown net.
Minutes later it was three when Steve Feeney, David Elliott and Courtney linked up. The ball was fed to Ciaran Smith who rifled his shot into the top of the net from distance.
Manager Scott Robinson said, “That 10 minute spell really killed the game off. It was excellent football from the boys and we really hit the target.”
“They had started off at a great pace, but the goals really knocked them back and from there on the match was played at a slower pace,” he said.
Portadown still caused problems with their pace, but Ballinamallard were defensively secure and still looked to get forward.
They added a fourth on 65 minutes when Noble collected a good ball from the right flank, took two touches and blasted past the Ports keeper.
On 93 minutes Portadown pulled one back when a long ball deceived the home defence and a Portadown striker ran through to slot past keeper Adam Murphy.
“That took the shine off it for us,” said Robinson. “But really we had done our damage and there was no way they were coming back.”
Now the Reserves travel to Stangmore Park in Dungannon on Thursday night to play their third group game, confident they can make the semi final stage.
“We have to make sure we get that place. We’ve done the first part of the job, now we have to finish it off. All credit to the boys. We really want to get back into the final this year,” said Robinson.