Border Cup 2nd Round
Report by Chris Hagan.
Aquinas 3 Killyleagh YC 5.
It was yet another dramatic Border Cup fightback from Killyleagh. Trailing 3-1 for the second time in the competition this season.
Paul Sharvin’s team fought back to score four unanswered goals for the second time in the Border Cup in a fortnight to make it yet another 5-3 finish.
Remarkably there were five separate scorers and Killyleagh’s reward is a home tie in the last 16 — when they will start as underdogs against the Crumlin United team that beat them on the opening day of the season.
Aquinas scored within the first three minutes. The impressive Ben Leonard linked well with strike partner Martin Lindsay who finished past Aaron Carberry in the YC goals.
It was Carberry who created the Killyleagh equaliser. His quick thinking released Adam Neale in a great position. With Neale bearing down on goal he was crudely bundled over in the box. John Murray stepped up to finish expertly in the 11th minute.
Aquinas took the lead again in the 17th minute. This time it was Tomas Maguire who found himself in front of goal for the easiest of tap ins.
Ramsey scored his second in the 23rd minute when a long ball behind the YC defence caused all sorts of problems. He tucked the ball into the corner from a tight angle for a superb finish.
This seemed to finally spur Killyleagh on and in the 29th minute Neale reduced the arrears. Clever link up play from Kennedy released Jack Sharvin, who cut the ball across the park for Neale to tuck in nicely.
JonJoe Sharvin brought the sides level in the 42nd minute. A ball in from Keegan Rice cleared the box but fell to Sharvin who found the top corner with a deft finish. It is his fifth goal of the season, making him joint top scorer.
Stevie Kennedy, scoring his second goal in as many matches, gave the YC the lead in the 58th minute. And of course it was another spectacular, drilling a stunning shot from all of 25 yards to leave McGrea in the Aquinas net with absolute no chance.
Aquinas still created chances and it took a fine Carberry save to keep them at bay before Jack Sharvin finished the tie off in the 78th minute. Aquinas failed to clear the ball from their box and Sharvin was on hand to rifle in the finish.
