The Penalty Box Dancer
Player Valuation: £35m
Dollingstown vs Coleraine
20th February 2038
Henderson kept the same team that beat Portadown last week. The mood was good around Planters Park and the players looked in good spirits during their warm-up led by Duncan Ferguson. Tommy Smyth was in the team after scoring his first Dollingstown goal against Portadown and a man of the match performance to excite the supporters ahead of kick-off. Smyth didn't disappoint and every time the 17 year old was on the ball it looked like something was going to happen, he was physical and shrugged players off like they wasn't there. He took the ball down on the edge of the box with his back to goal on 30 minutes and then played in Morgan with a nice pass who hit a shot from the edge of the box and the keeper couldn't keep it out! 1-0 to the Dollybirds! Nicky Quinn was disappointed not to double the lead on 39 minutes when he hit the post from Morgan's low ball into the box. Coleraine were the brighter team in the second half and they pushed Dollingstown back, Whelan pulled off a great fingertip save to keep the score at 1-0. Johnny McGurgan replaced Kurtis Kane with just over ten minutes to go. Tommy Smyth received a standing ovation when his number was read out to be replaced by Luke Kemp. David Kee took the free-kick short on 84 minutes, he passed it to McGurgan who was closed down so he played it back to McKenna, McKenna dallied on the ball and lost out to Cooney who came forward, played in Murphy to his right and he drove the shot low into the bottom corner across the keeper to equalise. The game rose to a new level in stoppage time and the intensity was there from both teams, Kee found Morgan inside the area, the crowd urged him to shoot and he passed it to Kemp who tried the shot but the defence got the ball clear down the right for Murphy to chase, Mulholland tried to match his pace and put in a tackle at the byline that got him a yellow card but tempers flared between both teams. McGurgan and Kee were in there to calm things down but Murphy was furious with the challenge. Watson took the resulting free-kick and Mark Kelly was at the far post to tap in the winner! Coleraine came from behind to potentially win this match! It's a blow to Dollingstown but you could see the goals were coming which saw them lose this match. Why didn't Henderson tighten up the midfield?
EH: Things went well for large parts of the match and we were unlucky not to be 2-0 up. I made the decision to bring Johnny on and put Luke Kemp in the attacking role to try and hit Coleraine on the counter, the plan didn't work out but we were competitive throughout. It's a blow to lose in stoppage time like we did and we need to be switched on at all times. Tommy was brilliant again today and played a mature game, he is young and we need to protect him.
PLAYER RATINGS
Ballmena United vs Dollingstown
27th February 2038
There was no changes from the previous game as both teams prepared for the last match before the league split. A win for Dollingstown would see them overtake Ballymena and take 10th spot in the division. Dollingstown worked the ball well in the opposition half early on but were unable to break down the defence. Kane played it to McKenna and he got it wide into space for Quinn, he switched the play to Morgan and the ball was put into the six yard box for Quinn to finish and get his 10th of the season! This new look Dollingstown take the lead once again! It was good football from Dollingstown and David Kee was unlucky from the free-kick which hit the crossbar. The weather changed and the sun came out for the second half. Sean Sheridan was having a quiet game in attack and was replaced by Jimmy Boyd on 69 minutes. David Kee aimed the free-kick towards the back post but it was headed away, Smyth put his foot through the ball and it came off the foot of Wilson who put it into his own net! That one will go down as an own goal but it's 2-0 to Dollingstown! The Dollybirds are winning the fight against relegation! It's been a poor day for Ballymena as they go into the relegation play-off place and Dollingstown move into 10th!
EH: It's a fantastic result for us and one we deserved. We've now got five games against the bottom half of the table to secure our safety for another season in the top flight. It's been a difficult season and a tough rebuild, look at where this club came from and you can see already how much stronger we are. The hard work will continue and it's great to have a chairman who shares our ambition to take this club forward.
PLAYER RATINGS
20th February 2038
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Henderson kept the same team that beat Portadown last week. The mood was good around Planters Park and the players looked in good spirits during their warm-up led by Duncan Ferguson. Tommy Smyth was in the team after scoring his first Dollingstown goal against Portadown and a man of the match performance to excite the supporters ahead of kick-off. Smyth didn't disappoint and every time the 17 year old was on the ball it looked like something was going to happen, he was physical and shrugged players off like they wasn't there. He took the ball down on the edge of the box with his back to goal on 30 minutes and then played in Morgan with a nice pass who hit a shot from the edge of the box and the keeper couldn't keep it out! 1-0 to the Dollybirds! Nicky Quinn was disappointed not to double the lead on 39 minutes when he hit the post from Morgan's low ball into the box. Coleraine were the brighter team in the second half and they pushed Dollingstown back, Whelan pulled off a great fingertip save to keep the score at 1-0. Johnny McGurgan replaced Kurtis Kane with just over ten minutes to go. Tommy Smyth received a standing ovation when his number was read out to be replaced by Luke Kemp. David Kee took the free-kick short on 84 minutes, he passed it to McGurgan who was closed down so he played it back to McKenna, McKenna dallied on the ball and lost out to Cooney who came forward, played in Murphy to his right and he drove the shot low into the bottom corner across the keeper to equalise. The game rose to a new level in stoppage time and the intensity was there from both teams, Kee found Morgan inside the area, the crowd urged him to shoot and he passed it to Kemp who tried the shot but the defence got the ball clear down the right for Murphy to chase, Mulholland tried to match his pace and put in a tackle at the byline that got him a yellow card but tempers flared between both teams. McGurgan and Kee were in there to calm things down but Murphy was furious with the challenge. Watson took the resulting free-kick and Mark Kelly was at the far post to tap in the winner! Coleraine came from behind to potentially win this match! It's a blow to Dollingstown but you could see the goals were coming which saw them lose this match. Why didn't Henderson tighten up the midfield?
EH: Things went well for large parts of the match and we were unlucky not to be 2-0 up. I made the decision to bring Johnny on and put Luke Kemp in the attacking role to try and hit Coleraine on the counter, the plan didn't work out but we were competitive throughout. It's a blow to lose in stoppage time like we did and we need to be switched on at all times. Tommy was brilliant again today and played a mature game, he is young and we need to protect him.
PLAYER RATINGS
Ballmena United vs Dollingstown
27th February 2038
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There was no changes from the previous game as both teams prepared for the last match before the league split. A win for Dollingstown would see them overtake Ballymena and take 10th spot in the division. Dollingstown worked the ball well in the opposition half early on but were unable to break down the defence. Kane played it to McKenna and he got it wide into space for Quinn, he switched the play to Morgan and the ball was put into the six yard box for Quinn to finish and get his 10th of the season! This new look Dollingstown take the lead once again! It was good football from Dollingstown and David Kee was unlucky from the free-kick which hit the crossbar. The weather changed and the sun came out for the second half. Sean Sheridan was having a quiet game in attack and was replaced by Jimmy Boyd on 69 minutes. David Kee aimed the free-kick towards the back post but it was headed away, Smyth put his foot through the ball and it came off the foot of Wilson who put it into his own net! That one will go down as an own goal but it's 2-0 to Dollingstown! The Dollybirds are winning the fight against relegation! It's been a poor day for Ballymena as they go into the relegation play-off place and Dollingstown move into 10th!
EH: It's a fantastic result for us and one we deserved. We've now got five games against the bottom half of the table to secure our safety for another season in the top flight. It's been a difficult season and a tough rebuild, look at where this club came from and you can see already how much stronger we are. The hard work will continue and it's great to have a chairman who shares our ambition to take this club forward.
PLAYER RATINGS
LEAGUE SPLIT
LEAGUE TABLE
FINAL FIXTURES
With a month gap between fixtures, Henderson wants his side to play a friendly to keep fitness levels up and to avoid losing that momentum going into the last five matches.
