Wilton United 2
Douglas Hall 1
Wilton United just managed to earn all three points in a game that they should have had wrapped up from the start at the Lee Road on Sunday morning thanks to a late goal from Ian Carpenter in a game where the away side couldn’t field a full 11 players.
The game was never going to be a classic due to the awful condition of the pitch and the severe disadvantage against Douglas but there was plenty entertainment throughout the 80 minutes.
Wilton were ahead after only five minutes when Josh O’Shea fired a right-footed shot past stand-in goalkeeper Andrew Lehane. It looked like the floodgates would open thanks to the numerical advantage the home side had but the Douglas defence of Greg O’Riordan, Alan Murray, John Daly and Tom Peelo coped remarkably.
Lehane played superbly too and kept his side in the game on more than one occasion. The Douglas captain saved excellently from Carpenter, Andrew Bhandarkar and from Josh O’Shea while the woodwork also came to his assistance twice in the first period. Kyle Lynch had his shot pushed onto the post by Lehane and Craig Burns’ volley from the edge of the area crashed back off of the crossbar.
Wilton eased off the pace as the away side didn’t look like threatening at all but Douglas got to half time only a goal behind and were able to introduce Mark Holland who levelled the tie against all the odds mid-way through the second period. Brian Forde played the ball across the box to Holland who headed past Evan Spiteri and sent the ten Douglas players into rapturous celebrations.
The celebrations were premature though as Ian Carpenter saved the home sides blushes with 3 minutes remaining when he scored from close range. It was awful for Douglas as they almost picked up a point in the toughest of circumstances and they still remain in the bottom half of the division while Wilton remain in second behind the unbeaten Kilreen Celtic.
Wilton United: Evan Spiteri, Alan Blake, Ian Carpenter, Max Taafe, Kyle Lynch, Craig Burns, Jake Mehmet, Josh O’Shea, Patrick Bowles, Andrew Bhandarkar, Hassan Baker
Substitutes: Mark Cambridge for Alan Blake, Adam Keneally for Hassan Baker & Jason Higgins for Kyle Lynch all half-time
Douglas Hall: Andrew Lehane, Greg O’Riordan, Alan Murray, John Daly, Tom Peelo, Scott O’Reilly, Rob Lyons, Mark Holland, Brian Forde, Eoin Cremin.
Referee: Danny O’Flynn
