On Saturday 24th February, both Kyle McClean and Matthew Fitzpatrick were able to put Linfield second on the NIFL Sports Direct Premiership with one point behind leaders, Larne. They achieved this with a 2-0 win over Ballymena.
The first half was a tight affair, both teams passing the ball between the midfield and the defence trying to create a space and score. Several chances were created by both teams, but no goals. The second half was brighter and in the 54th minute Linfield’s Ethan McGee crossed the ball into the box and Kyle McClean was unmarked and he headed the ball into the top left of the net giving Linfield a 1-0 lead. Then in the 77th minute, Linfield’s Daniel Finlayson crossed the ball from just inside Ballymena’s half to striker Matthew Fitzpatrick who, unmarked, controlled it, dribbled the ball into the box and chipped the keeper making it 2-0 to Linfield, which was the final score. An unfortunate result for Ballymena as they had played impressively throughout the game.
After the match, Man Of The Match Matthew Fitzpatrick and Linfield Manager David Healy, spoke about how prepared they were for Ballymena. “We’ve played them a couple of times this year and we knew what they were about,” Fitzpatrick said. “We knew how hard of a game it was going to be.” “We prepared as we do against any team,” Healy said. “Top teams, teams around the bottom. We give them the upmost respect. It was a tougher game today in terms of possession and space. Ballymena limited us to very little of that, but we found a way with the first goal and eventually we had done it and comfortably won the game.”
Both Fitzpatrick and Healy went on to talk about how they are going to play against Institute in the Clearer Water Irish Cup Quarter-Final. Fitzpatrick stated, “hopefully the same result. Every game is different and obviously Institute play a different brand of football than Ballymena and it will be a tough game going up to Brandywell. But we’ll prepare all week to face Institute and hopefully put in a good performance and get us a good result.” Healy replied, “you always want to improve. We will try to improve in terms of preparation this week. We know the challenge of the Irish Cup, it’s an important competition for us. We will get the fitness levels out and then hopefully get the team selection and the shape right.” Lastly, they spoke about how confident they are in the team’s performance ahead of the upcoming games. “We are always confident,” Fitzpatrick stated. “We work hard all week in training and that’s where our confidence comes from. We are confident in every game.” “We are looking forward to it,” Healy said. ”We have gained the players’ understanding of the situation we find ourselves in coming towards the back end of the season. We know that we can’t have any off days and that’s important going forward.”
Both Linfield and Ballymena seemed to be strong with their passage of play throughout the match, but Ballymena had a good formation and plan but weren’t able to score from any created chances. Linfield improved in the second half. Overall, they had 13 shots against Ballymena’s 6. It was quality in the end that won the match. It leaves Linfield second in the table with a wait until the 16th March to play bottom club Newry. Ballymena will face 5th Place Crusaders next on 9th March.