McComb’s Intermediate Cup, Round Four

Crumlin Star 2 Crewe United 1

CRUMLIN Star bagged a last-minute victory against 10-man Crewe United at The Cricky on Saturday to qualify for the quarter-finals of the McComb’s Intermediate Cup.

Miguel Chines sealed the deal for the Ardoyne men at the end of a rollicking, bruising affair in fair weather, with fouls and yellow cards being awarded like they were going out of fashion in a tense and action-packed game that could have gone either way until the final minutes.

The game got off to a strong start with Star’s goalkeeper Dean Smyth saving an attempt on goal in the second minute. The next minute saw Niall Hawkins suffer a bruising foul to his right knee, forcing him off, with Finnbarr Brennan coming on to replace him.

For the next 10 minutes, both sides were involved in a ruthless quest for possession and chances, with Crewe’s Steven Brown’s header well kept by Smyth.

The bruising atmosphere did not relent, and players steamrolled into each other like they were at the dodgems, with Star’s Samuel McBurney being given a verbal warning by the referee at 14 minutes.

For the next 15 minutes, play rebounded between both teams making good runs on goal, but neither had much luck as each team put up a valiant defence, which often left the attackers on both sides down, but not out.

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After 21 minutes, Crewe’s Connor Maxwell attempted a shot on goal, which went narrowly wide and a minute later, Star’s Stephen Smyth went down after his head connected badly with Michael McQuitty in a challenge for the ball, for which Star were awarded a free-kick, but the chance was put out to pasture by Crewe’s determined defenders.

Crewe launched a successful counterattack, in which Steven Brown sank the ball into the back of the net, putting the Glenavy boys a goal up.

Star refused to rest of their laurels and immediately launched a counterattack with two shots on goal by 28 minutes from Samuel McBurney and Patrick McIlkenny, the first blasting off a Crewe defender’s leg in a whack which will surely have left a mark come the morning, and the second was saved by Crewe’s goalkeeper from New Jersey, Christian Matson.

The play continued to be relentless, with Crewe picking up their first of many yellow cards after 32 minutes when Steven Brown fouled Finnbarr Brennan.

This failed to cool tensions, as in the 35th minute, as Star captain Aiden McNeill made an attempt on goal, he was fouled by Matson, who was promptly shown red.

For this action, Star was awarded a penalty which was taken by McNeill, who blasted the ball into the top left corner to equalise.

Down to 10 men and only Daniel Smith up front, Crewe seemed to lose their attacking edge for the remainder of the match, instead focusing on defence to ensure Star couldn’t take advantage of their opportunity against the weakened side.

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Stephen Smyth shot wide for Star, as Crewe rallied their defence from their recent setback and sought to dig in to deny the Ardoyne men any chance of taking advantage.

The momentum was now thoroughly with Star, who began to hammer home attacks in an attempt to break down the resolve of their opponents.

The last minutes of the first half were thoroughly in Star’s favour, but they still had issues breaking through Crewe’s lines as a series of excellent corners taken by Brendan Short were put to bed with the Glenavy boys shooting down all plays made by Star, as the referee handed out constant verbal warnings.

The second half started yet again with Star on the offensive, maintaining the majority of possession, with Patrick McIlkenny making some very good passes and crosses, but Crewe’s defence held firm, with captain Dean Youle leading the line.

This was the scene for the next 20 minutes, and the half-time breather seemed to have done nothing to cool down the passions of either side, with Star’s Kevin Trainor being awarded a yellow card in the 65th minute for a poor tackle on Noel Halfpenny. 

On 66 minutes, Star substituted Patrick McIlkenny for Miguel Chines, who would go on to play excellently for the remainder of the match.

On 71 minutes, it looked like Star were going to score when an exciting opportunity saw the Ardoyne men launch three attacks on goal in rapid succession, but all were saved by Crewe’s replacement ’keeper, who did very well playing out of position to see off the force of the attack.

Crewe’s replacement ’keeper continued to rise to the challenge and saw of what very well could have been decent goals.

Star captain McNeill headed just wide on 88 minutes, and it began to appear like Crewe had done a decent job of denying their opponents any chance to take advantage.

It all came undone in stoppage time when substitute Miguel Chines took a right-hand corner and scored an unbelievable goal, putting the Ardoyne men through in spectacular fashion.

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After the match Star’s manager Paul Trainor reflected on the win, and expressed his, and his team’s delight at going through to the quarter-finals.

“We’re over the moon! There are a lot of guys who previously played for Star, who went to Crewe and vice versa, so there was a wee bit of a derby feeling about today’s match.”

“We were down to the bare bones today with three or four of our key players out either through suspension, or injuries, but the lads are absolutely made up with the result.”

When asked about the number of yellow cards that were awarded during play, Paul Trainor said it was just good-natured competition, and there were no bad feelings between any of the players.

 “Both the teams played hard today, there was a wee bit of needle about it, but all the players are good mates and it’s all over off the pitch,” he added.

“We’re through to the quarter-finals now, and we’ve got this far, it’s a lot of games you have to win to get here. 

“We won the Cup two years ago, and it was a fantastic night but it's back to the league next week. We’re joint-top with East Belfast and we’ve a big game with Derriaghy next week, so we’ll be focused on preparing for that.”

CRUMLIN STAR: D Smyth (GK), B Short, A McNeill (C), N Hawkins (F Brennan 4), P McConnell, M Lyons, P McIlkenny (M Chines 66), K Trainor, J Doyle, S Smyth, S McBurney.
Goals: A McNeill (37), M Chines (91)

CREWE UNITED: CMatson (GK) (P McDowell 37), T McAuley, C Maxwell, D Youle (C), M McQuitty, N Halfpenny, A Harmon, T Mulvenna (C McDonald 85), D Smith (R Brannigan 85), R Kelly, S Brown

Goals: S Brown (26)