Ballymena United

2

Glenavon

4

O'BRIEN MARKS GLENAVON DEBUT WITH HAT-TRICK

3rd Jan 2015

Declan O'Brien, Glenavon's new arrival from Drogheda United, marked his debut with a hat-trick in this entertaining victory at The Showgrounds.

Glenavon started brightly, almost going in front early on when Eoin Bradley saw the ball cleared off the line by Johnny Taylor after Stuart Addis had turned away his initial effort.

And Bradley was thwarted again moments later. Taylor conceded a spot-kick after upending O'Brien but Bradley offered up a poor penalty, dragging the ball past the upright.

But Glenavon eventually grabbed the goal they deserved on 17 minutes after Bradley beat Taylor before laying the ball off for Ciaran Martyn to fire home.

It was almost 2-0 on 23 minutes after a Rhys Marshall header from a corner clipped the top of the United crossbar before falling to safety.

The Sky Blues might have levelled just before the break after Gary McCutcheon crossed for Matthew Tipton but his volley was cleared off the line by Conor Dillon.

They did equalise within two minutes of the restart, however, after Gary Thompson delivered a cross for Darren Boyce to turn the ball home from close range.

Glenavon regained the lead, though, just after the hour mark when O'Brien turned a close range volley past Addis after the ball wasn't cleared from a Kyle Neill free-kick.

Rhys Marshall protected Glenavon's advantage as the game moved into the final stages with a goalline clearance from Allan Jenkins but, with ten minutes remaining, the issue was put beyond doubt when O'Brien grabbed his second of the afternoon after racing clear to get onto a Gary Hamilton flick to take the ball round Addis and into the empty net.

That wasn't the end of the scoring. McCutcheon marked his return to Ballymena by cutting the deficit again with two minutes remaining with a 30-yard half-volley over McGrath.

O'Brien replied straightaway for the visitors with his hat-trick goal with a close range tap-in after Mark Patton's initial effort had been parried.

Ballymena United: Addis, T. Kane, Taylor, Munster, McBride, Thompson, McCaul, Jenkins, Boyce, Tipton, McCutcheon subs Teggart (replaced McBride 82), Surgenor (not used), McCullagh (not used), Shevlin (not used), Gawley (not used)

Glenavon: McGrath, Neill, Murphy, Bradley, Dillon, Caldwell, O'Brien, Marshall, McCabe, Martyn, Singleton subs Lindsay (not used), Kilmartin (not used), Hamilton (replaced Bradley 78), Patton (replaced Singleton 82), Sykes (not used)

Referee: Stephen Wallace

Attendance: 1014

Tags: