fonaCAB Craig Stanfield Junior Cup
Ballinamallard Utd Res5Newry Celtic0
By Aaron Hassard
Ballinamallard Reserves boss Ally Irwin praised his side’s “professionalism” as the Mallards marched into the last 16 of the Junior Cup following a resounding 5-0 win over Carnbane League side Newry Celtic.
Adam Cathcart opened the scoring, before debutante Ronan Hutchins netted the first of his brace on 20 minutes.
Daniel Hughes added a third before the break, with Hutchins’ second and a fine effort by Lashawn Lombard in the second half securing the Ducks passage into round five.
“I thought the boys were very good.“You always coach your players to draw pressure from the opposition, but when the opposition doesn’t press and sits back it can be difficult,” Irwin said.
“But we found a way through, scored plenty of goals, kept a clean sheet and conducted ourselves professionally.”
Jack Beatty, who played 65 minutes against Limavady less than 24 hours earlier, set up the Mallards opener on 12 minutes.
Hutchins fed Beatty, with the forward turning and threading a pass in behind to Cathcart on the right, who fired a low effort underneath Celtic goalkeeper Caoimhin Griffin.
Cathcart flashed another effort wide and volleyed a further effort against the post, before Hutchins netted his first and Ballinamallard’s second.
Peter Armstrong fed Hutchins on the left side, with the winger cutting inside and finishing past Griffin at the near post, his first goal since arriving from New Zealand club Eastern Suburbs.
Former Newry City striker Neil Barr almost got on the end of a low Darragh McParland cross from the left, before Daniel Hughes’ composed finish from 12 yards made it 3-nil just on the stroke of half-time.
Ballinamallard put the game beyond any doubt in the second half. Peter Armstrong again combined with Hutchins, who beat his defender slotted the ball past Celtic’s replacement goalkeeper on 71 minutes, after Griffin went off injured.
The final Ducks goal came six minutes from time. Odhran McGovern played a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Lombard, who caressed a fine effort into the bottom right corner from outside the box.
Ards Reserves will visit Ballinamallard in the fifth round and Irwin admits that he is expecting a tougher test.
“If you want to make the latter stages of the Junior Cup, you must beat good teams to get there.
“We are getting to that stage of the competition now, but we fancy ourselves against anyone,” he added.
