Ballymena United 1
Ards 1
League (NIFL Premiership)
Ballymena UnitedBallymena United |
1 - 11 - 1 |
ArdsArds |
 |
League (NIFL Premiership) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
|
James McCabe (12) |
William Faulkner (45) |
| Team Managers | |
|
Glenn Ferguson |
Niall Currie |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
Macauley Cairns Jack Graham Aaron Harris Jason Johnston Caolan Loughran Matthew Ferguson Eoin Kane Stephen Hamill Neil Lowry James McCabe Michael McLellan |
Graeme McKibbin .90 Greg Hall .2 Steven McCullough .3 David Gibson .5 Kyle McDowell .11 Andrew Hunter .16 Corey Davidson .17 William Faulkner .18 Mark McClelland .19 Sean Cleary .28 Conor Downey .29 |
| Bench | |
|
Michael McKenna Nicky Black Jake Carson CJ McQuillan Jake McNeill |
Stuart Muldrew .7 Neil Dougan .8 Eamonn Connor .10 Mark Burns .20 Andrew Mitchell .25 |
| Substitutions | |
|
CJ McQuillan for Neil Lowry (51) Nicky Black for Matthew Ferguson (70) Jake Carson for Stephen Hamill (76) |
Stuart Muldrew for William Faulkner (46) Neil Dougan for Kyle McDowell (62) Andrew Mitchell for Conor Downey (62) |
| Cautions | |
| None. | None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. | None. |
| Match Officials | |
|
John Deighan (Referee) |
Match Report
Ards bowed out of the Danske Bank Premiership with this point at Irish Cup finalists Ballymena United.
Niall Currie's side went into the game hoping that their top flight status would be extended into at least a play-off should North Down rivals Bangor lift the Championship 1 title but instead that honour went to Institute thus confirming Ards' relegation.
The much changed Sky Blues - fielding no fewer than six debutants - moved in front after just 12 minutes when a Greg Hall mistake allowed skipper James McCabe to nip in and finish well.
Neil Lowry might have added a second on 20 minutes only to clip the top of the bar with a cross while Michael McLellan also came close when he tested Ards 'keeper Graeme McKibbin.
However Ards levelled two minutes from the break through William Faulkner after he side-stepped the defence to smash the ball into the corner from around 15 yards.
McLellan then had another chance for the Irish Cup finalists around the hour mark with an effort from the edge of the area but McKibbin blocked the danger with his legs.
Match report written by Official NIFL Website
Squad Statistics (as at April 26th, 2014)
| 2013-2014 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Macauley Cairns (GK) | 19 |
|
3 | - | 4 | - |
| Jack Graham | 18 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Aaron Harris | 19 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Jason Johnston | 17 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Caolan Loughran | 19 |
|
2 | - | 2 | - |
| Matthew Ferguson | 18 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Eoin Kane | 18 |
|
2 | - | 2 | - |
| Stephen Hamill | 18 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Neil Lowry | 20 |
|
19 | 1 | 52 | 3 |
| James McCabe | 21 |
|
3 | 1 | 26 | 4 |
| Michael McLellan | 21 |
|
25 | 2 | 25 | 2 |
| CJ McQuillan (sub) | 18 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Nicky Black (sub) | 18 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Jake Carson (sub) | 19 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
League Table (as at April 26th, 2014)
| Pld | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Cliftonville | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 49 | 85 |
| 2. | Linfield | 38 | 24 | 7 | 7 | 35 | 79 |
| 3. | Crusaders | 38 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 25 | 66 |
| 4. | Portadown | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 24 | 62 |
| 5. | Glentoran | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 59 |
| 6. | Glenavon | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | -4 | 51 |
| 7. | BALLYMENA UTD | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | -11 | 47 |
| 8. | Dungannon | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | -17 | 44 |
| 9. | Coleraine | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | -10 | 42 |
| 10. | Ballinamallard | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | -35 | 39 |
| 11. | Warrenpoint | 38 | 10 | 6 | 22 | -29 | 36 |
| 12. | Ards | 38 | 6 | 6 | 26 | -39 | 24 |
* - Table split into two divisions of six.