Derg smash-and-grab to move out of bottom two

Dergview 2 Ards 1

TOMMY Canning and his players should do time for what was the ultimate smash-and-grab act against Ards at Darragh Park on Tuesday!

It was the daylight robbery at its finest with two late goals by substitute Bobby Deane and Garth Falconer in the space of four minutes securing three precious points.

For 75 minutes Dergview were second best on the night but a triple substitution, sandwiched in between arrival of Deane and Zac Gorman, gave the hosts some late impetus and boy did they reap reward.

This victory – Dergview’s eighth league win of the season – lifts them back out of the bottom two. Canning and Co are now five points better off than bottom side Knockbreda, who do have a game in hand, and two ahead of Newington.

In fact, should the Castlederg side defeat Institute at Brandywell on Saturday they can move up to ninth in the table.

The game was a bit of a snore fest in the first half. Eamon Scannell, one of Ards top performers on the night tested Patrick McGarvey earlier on and had another low drive blocked on the line by the combined efforts of the Derg keeper and one of his defenders.

Dergview failed to heed those warning shots and right on the stroke of half-time the excellent Daniel Reynolds fed the ball into the feet of Scannell who turned on to his favoured left foot to hammer inside McGarvey’s right post.

But Ards failed to kill off their opponents in the second half and Matthew Tipton’s team paid a heavy price.

Dergview had somehow stayed in the game and Canning sent on the cavalry in the form of Deane, Oran Brogan, Stephen Doherty, Niall Fielding and Gorman to try and conjure up an equaliser.

With just seven minutes remaining and following a couple of corners, Deane swooped on a dropping ball to hook in from close range.

That was a massive shot in the arm for the hosts and four minutes later the hosts produced a winner. Gallagher clipped a lovely ball into the path of the overlapping Falconer on the left and from an acute angle the attacking defender drilled a shot low and hard under the diving body of Alex Moore.