Season : 2014 / 2015 Back to 2014 / 2015 Fixtures Linfield 0 Glenavon 1 Date : 20th September 2014 Competition : Irish League Venue : Windsor Park Referee : Hunter Glenavon scorer : 40 Braniff Linfield named an unchanged starting eleven from the side that defeated Warrenpoint in last week’s home opener. On the bench, there was a notable returns to the match day squad for Andy Waterworth and Chris Hegarty; a sign that these two important players are well on their way back to full match fitness. On a warm afternoon, both sides started slowly, feeling their way into the game. Glenavon were almost in after five minutes with Mark Haughey tracking back brilliantly to intercept McGrory’s through ball to Forsyth. Linfield’s first spell of pressure came from a corner ball that was only half cleared by the Glenavon back four. The ball came out to Stephen Lowry, whose delicious ball into the box was well handled by former Linfield keeper Blayney, under pressure from Sammy Morrow. Michael Carvill was almost in in the 20th minute as he made a late run onto a high long ball, which flummoxed the Glenavon defence. A Carvill raced through on goal he looked to be held back, and Conor Dillon got back to tackle the tricky number 10. Glenavon were next to threaten a goal, as Shane McCabe capitalised on some indecision in midfield and ran at the Linfield rear line. McCabe squared the ball across to Ciaran Caldwell who attempted to place the ball into Tuffey’s goal from the corner of the box. Tuffey however had other ideas and had read Caldwell’s intentions as he caught the ball comfortably. The Blues responded with a ranging run from Stephen Lowry who skipped his way past three challenges and pulled the ball back to Sammy Morrow. Just as Morrow was about to pull the trigger, Kris Lindsay got back to make a last ditch tackle. With the game going into the final five minutes of the first half, things began to open up. Some good football from Clarke, Carvill and Burns saw the Blues threaten down the left. Nevertheless, it was the Lurgan Blues who took the lead in the 40th minute. Glenavon won a controversial free kick on the edge of the area. Seanan Clucas was adjudged to have handled the ball as he bravely blocked a shot, following a swift Glenavon counter. Kevin Braniff then lined up the free kick and curled it into the top left-hand corner, giving Tuffey no chance. Half Time: Linfield 0 – 1 Glenavon In response to falling behind late in the first half, Linfield made two changes at the half time interval. Andrew Waterworth and Kirk Millar replaced Sammy Morrow and Jimmy Callacher. Linfield started the second period with a spring in their step with Waterworth and Millar adding a touch of extra pace. Despite this, it was Glenavon who nearly doubled their lead in the 49th minute. Kevin Braniff found some space down the right hand side of the box. He squared the ball back to McGrory. Fortunately McGrory, with the Linfield net at his mercy, fluffed his lines and managed somehow to put the ball wide. Linfield responded to this scare in positive fashion. Ivan Sproule made some room for himself to put a terrific cross into the middle. Waterworth and Carvill looked strong candidates to tap the ball into the net, but the ball took a slight deflection and evaded everyone in the Glenavon box. From the resulting corner, Mark Haughey rose well to direct a header towards Blayney’s net. Disappointingly, Haughey’s effort was blocked on the line and the danger was cleared. In the 64th minute, a high ball into the Linfield box was knocked down by Forsyth to Kevin Braniff hit a rasping effort from the right hand side of the area. Jonathan Tuffey did very well to dive low, and palm to ball away from net and then quickly smother the rebound. A minute later, Linfield had strong appeals for a penalty. Peter Thompson looked to be brought down by Alan Blayney inside the box. Instead of pointing to the penalty spot, referee Hunter strangely pointed for a corner. Glenavon were reduced to ten men in 70th minute as Kris Lindsay hacked down a flying Ivan Sproule. Much to the protests of Lindsay, referee Hunter had no hesitation that his late challenge deserved a second yellow at best and sent the defender for an early bath. Linfield almost took immediate advantage of Glenavon’s predicament as Kirk Millar fired a great ball into the middle. Blayney could only palm the cross out and Lowry fired a shot, which looked destined for the equaliser back at goal. Unluckily for Linfield, an orange shirt was stationed on the line to clear the ball away from goal. On 80 minutes, Andrew Waterworth almost made it a dream comeback. Waterworth was fed the ball on the edge of the area and he quickly turned and fronted up his man. Skipping past his defender, Waterworth fired a low drive back towards the near post, but Blayney dived down to brilliantly hand the ball wide. The Blues were putting together some good attacks and Millar, in particular, was putting the Glenavon defence under all sort of pressure. With Linfield pushing hard for the equaliser, Glenavon still looked dangerous on the break. It was nearly curtains for Linfield in the 87th minute, as Ciaran Caldwell went unchallenged into the Linfield area and smashed a shot against the bar. At the other end, Michael Carvill found some space to shoot from 25 yards out, but Blayney was able to dive to his left and grasp the ball with both hands. Unfortunately, Glenavon managed to navigate 4 minutes of added time and record Linfield’s second defeat of the season. A disappointing result for the Blues, but a close game that could have gone either way. Full Time: Linfield 0 – 1 Glenavon Linfield Team : Tuffey, Richards, Callacher (45’ Millar), Haughey, Lowry, Carvill, Burns (64’ Thompson), Clarke, Morrow (45’ Waterworth), Sproule, Clucas Linfield Subs not used : Glendinning, Hegarty Glenavon Team : Blayney, McKeown, Kilmartin, Lindsay, Dillon, Caldwell, McGrory, Forsyth, Braniff, McCabe, Singleton Glenavon Subs not used :
Posted on: Sat, 20 Sep 2014 21:57:18 +0000
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