NIFL Premiership Round-up - Week 1

A new and much anticipated Danske Bank Premier League returned on Saturday with all twelve teams involved in the three o’clock kick-offs on the opening day.

Cliftonville began the defence of their title against newly promoted Ards who came up as champions from the First Division last season with nine points to spare, and enjoying life in the top flight for the first time since 2006.

The North Down side have been busy augmenting their squad over the summer with some canny acquisitions, including former Linfield midfielder Ryan Henderson, and showed they were not overawed by the home side’s unfurling of the Championship flag before the start by creating the first goal scoring opportunity after only three minutes when Ben Roy’s free kick flew inches over the bar.

Although Cliftonville were neat and tidy in possession their central defensive pairing of Dermot McVeigh and Jamie McGovern had trouble dealing with the robust nature of Paul McDowell’s hold up play. Indeed Ards were unlucky that, despite some good interplay between the striker and his fellow attackers, they could not fashion a clear cut opportunity as the visitors dominated the opening proceedings.

Niall Currie’s men were then given a cruel lesson in life in the Premiership when, in the tenth minute, they went a goal behind against the run of play. The visitors looked to be in total control of the lively Chris Curran’s cross but the clearance rebounded off Neil Dougan straight to Joe Gormley who rifled home a volley from eight yards.

The home side began to control the game and it was no surprise when Gormley doubled his tally on nineteen minutes, stroking home after being found in the area by Stephen Garrett.

If the sizable home crowd were expecting the flood gates to open they were given cause to think again by a spirited finish to the half from Ards who were desperately unlucky not to grab one back when Dougan was denied a certain goal by a wonderful intervention by Jamie McGovern.

At the other end Garrett contrived to miss after rounding the keeper and shortly after wards it was Ards supporters turn to look to the gods as Ryan Henderson narrowly failed to get on the end of Ben Roy’s cross with the goal at his mercy.

The second half saw Cliftonville in the ascendancy early on but the game was sparked into life on 53 minutes as Roy finished off a flowing Ards counter attack when he curled a superlative effort in to the top corner with Conor Devlin stranded.

The Champions knew they were now in a game and the cheers that greeted Liam Boyce’s 63^rd minute strike were tinged with more than a little relief as an upset seemed briefly on the cards as Ards confidence grew with their first Premier League goal.

Boyce then made certain of the points nine minutes later with a superb individual goal when he danced through the Ards defence before rounding the keeper and sealing a deserved three points for his side.

The visitors were not done however and McDowell plundered a goal with twelve minutes remaining that his performance warranted.  Despite a noble defeat the newcomers exited the field with an appreciative, and sporting, applause from the home support that will help them believe that they can compete and prosper in their new environs.

No one has busier in the close season than David Jeffrey as Linfield reacted to relinquishing their title with a flurry of new additions, including former Glentoran striker Andrew Waterworth and promising midfielder James Knowles who moved across town from Cliftonville.

The Blues first assignment was a tricky away trip to Portadown whose preparations for the season were hampered by the news that influential midfielder Tim Mouncey would be out for an extended period after an operation on his kidney.

Peter Thompson sent a message to the new signings vying for his number nine jersey by opening the scoring with a goal of sheer class as he cut in from the left, leaving a trail of defenders in his wake, before prodding past Ports keeper David Miskelly.

Miskelly made amends with a tremendous save to deny Thompson a second and his opposite number Jonny Tuffey had to be alert to palm away a fierce Kevin Braniff drive as the game opened up in the closing stages.

Just when it looked like Linfield had secured all three points referee Mark Courtney adjudged that BJ Burns had handled the ball as he went to ground under pressure from Darren Murray and awarded an 88^th minute spot kick to the home side.

Murray kept his composure to just about squeeze his shot underneath Tuffey to leave David Jeffrey voicing his objections to the referee at the final whistle but ultimately ruing a missed opportunity to open their campaign with a win.

Last season’s surprise package Ballinamallard United showed no signs of succumbing to second season syndrome as they defeated Crusaders by a single goal in Ferney Park.

Stephen Baxter brought his team to Fermanagh on the back of a second placed finish in the league last year but his side were a goal down after only thirteen minutes when Andy Crawford latched on to a knock down and dispatched the ball past Yohann Lacroix . Ryan Campbell was then denied by a fingertip Lacroix save before Paul Heatley failed to equalise when his shot came back off the post.

Crawford was then sent off along with Crues captain Colin Coates for an off the ball incident but United saw out the game for a well-deserved three points.

The most action packed game of the day took place at Ballymena Showgrounds as two goals from former Derry City striker Mark Farren helped Glenavon to a 6-3 win over the home side to leave the Lurgan Blues sitting top of the fledgling table after the first round of games.

Elsewhere Glentoran and Coleraine finished all square with Shane Jennings’ second half header cancelling out Jim O’ Hanlon’s penalty and Warrenpoint Town’s first ever top flight game ended in heart breaking defeat as they succumbed to a late Matt Hazley goal to lose by the odd goal in five to Dungannon Swifts.