Ballyclare Comrades v Ards
Playr-Fit Championship, September 14
Rory McKee
r.mckee@ardschronicle.co.uk
THE prospect of facing an out-of-sorts Ballyclare Comrades side at the beginning of this month might well have appealed to Ards as they look to turn the tide on their stuttering league form.
But nothing is ever straight-forward in the second tier of Irish League football and when John Bailie’s men make the trip to Dixon Park this Saturday, they’re instead likely to come up against a Ballyclare outfit renewed in confidence having collected their first win in four games last time out.
Just a couple of weeks ago, Stephen Small’s team were coming to terms with a 7-2 home humbling at the hands of Harland and Wolff Welders. However any sinking feeling was soon rectified when the Comrades pushed top flight Linfield all the way in a battling County Antrim Shield performance before earning a 3-1 victory on the road to Institute days later.
It therefore makes for an intriguing contest on the newly-installed artificial surface at Dixon Park at the weekend, where Ards will be desperate to avoid the prospect of four straight Championship defeats.
Early-season optimism on the part of the Red and Blues has quickly evaporated following a hat-trick of league reversals at the hands of Bangor, Armagh City and Dundela. Goals appear to have dried up for Bailie’s side, too, only finding the net once in that barron run having scored eight times in their first three games.
The Ards boss will hope to be able to call upon ex-Comrades captain Gary Donnelly for this one, with the midfielder not featuring for his new club since defeat in the north Down derby on August 27.
Recent versions of the fixture have strongly favoured Ballyclare, Stephen Small’s side winning four of the last five meetings including 6-3 and 5-1 victories at Dixon Park. Not since August 2022 have Ards tasted success over Saturday’s opponents, when Ross Hunter and Eamon Scannell were on target in a 2-1 win at Clandeboye Park.
