(Lisburn) Distillery 1
Ballymena United 4
League (IFA Premiership)
Distillery |
1 - 4 |
Ballymena United |
 |
League (IFA Premiership) |
 |
| Goalscorers | |
| Gary Liggett (34) |
Alan Teggart (10) Gary McCutcheon (38) Jordan Baker (64) Gary McCutcheon (77) |
| Team Managers | |
| Tommy Wright |
Roy Walker |
| Starting Eleven | |
|
Billy Brennan Aaron Callaghan Andrew Ferguson Seamus Sharkey Jordan Hughes David Cushley Grant Gardiner David McCullough Scott Davidson Aaron Traynor Gary Liggett |
Aaron Kerr .47 Tony Kane .2 Mark Surgenor .13 Christopher Rodgers .26 Aaron Stewart .6 Alan Teggart .12 Conor Downey .15 Allan Jenkins .10 Jordan Baker .14 Gary McCutcheon .9 James Costello .17 |
| Bench | |
|
Andrew Hall David Larmour Neal Gawley Mark Patton Mark Cooling |
Dwayne Nelson .1 Ross Black .3 David Munster .16 Eamonn Murray .7 Rory Carson .11 |
| Substitutions | |
|
Andrew Hall for David McCullough (46) David Larmour for David Cushley (72) Neal Gawley for Jordan Hughes (88) |
David Munster for Conor Downey (77) Ross Black for Jordan Baker (90) |
| Cautions | |
| Aaron Traynor (49) | None. |
| Red Cards | |
| None. |
Tony Kane (87) |
| Match Officials | |
|
Arnold Hunter (Referee) |
Match Report
BALLYMENA United sit top of the Carling IFA Premiership after a convincing four goal opening day victory over Lisburn Distillery.
Roy Walker's new look side boasted seven debutants in the starting eleven; Tony Kane, Chris Rodgers, Jordan Baker, James Costello, Alan Teggart, Conor Downey and captain Allan Jenkins.
It took the Sky Blues only ten minutes to open their account for the season when Ally Teggart nipped in after a mistake by Seamus Sharkey and cooly finished from close range when one-on-one with goalkeeper Brennan.
The Whites equalised against the run of play on 34 minutes when David Cushley's header was only parried as far as Gary Liggett by goalkeeper Aaron Kerr, who fired home the leveller from close range.
Parity only lasted four minutes though as last season's leading goalscorer Gary McCutcheon got off the mark for this campaign, finishing off James Costello's excellent cross from the bye-line.
Costello, who has had a fine pre-season since joining from Glenavon, missed a penalty early in the second half after referee Arnold Hunter blew for handball from a Distillery defender - Costello fired a poor penalty high and wide of the goal.
He turned provider again for United's third goal of the game when his cross was met powerfully by Jordan Baker on 64 mintues and McCutcheon killed the game off as a contest with his second on 77 minutes.
The only blemish on the day was the dismissal of defender Tony Kane on his debut three minutes of time.
Match report written by Official Ballymena United website
Squad Statistics (as at August 6th, 2011)
| 2011-2012 | All Time | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age | Nat |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Aaron Kerr (GK) | 28 |
|
1 | - | 3 | - |
| Christopher Rodgers | 20 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Tony Kane | 23 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Aaron Stewart | 21 |
|
1 | - | 96 | 2 |
| Mark Surgenor | 25 |
|
1 | - | 78 | 9 |
| Allan Jenkins | 29 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Alan Teggart | 24 |
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Conor Downey | 29 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Gary McCutcheon | 32 |
|
1 | 2 | 45 | 17 |
| Jordan Baker | 22 |
|
1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| James Costello | 25 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| David Munster (sub) | 32 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
| Ross Black (sub) | 23 |
|
1 | - | 1 | - |
League Table (as at August 6th, 2011)
| Pld | W | D | L | +/- | Pts | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Glentoran | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 2. | Linfield | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 3. | Cliftonville | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 4. | Coleraine | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5. | Crusaders | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 6. | Portadown | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 7. | BALLYMENA UTD | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 8. | Donegal Celtic | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 9. | Dungannon Swifts | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10. | Glenavon | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 11. | Carrick Rangers | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 0 |
| 12. | Distillery | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -3 | 0 |
* - Table split into two divisions of six.