Village on a pillage

"SHEER RELIEF" was how Villagers' boss Jim Gardiner described this last-gasp victory following a sensational second-half at New Grosvenor.

He said: "We have had a hard seven or eight weeks, where we really played well and didn't get what we deserved."In our last two games, against Armagh and Distillery here, we haven't played that well, but the results have been a great relief. "You enjoy it when it happens for it's not often we score a winner in the 95th minute."

Defender Noel Robinson scored that late, late winner, heading home a cross from substitute Scott McCordick.

All the game's drama came in the second half.There was an incident involving John Martin and Noel Robinson in the box on 51 minutes, after Marc Robinson had chipped over Andy Kilmartin's free-kick. Martin was given a straight red, Robinson getting a yellow.

The home side, despite being down to 10 men, took the game to the visitors and went ahead on 68 minutes, Conor Hagan heading home from Darren Armour's cross.

The Villagers equalised on 73 minutes. Johnny Black rose to head home Willie Herron's cross before the Whites, again pressing forward, went 2-1 up.
Stuart Thompson pushed the ball down the line, Hagan ran into the box and his near-post cross was turned in by Loughgall full-black Bryan Pentland.
On 85 minutes full-back Glenn Waddell equalised for Loughgall from close range after a corner from Stevie Coulter... and his side would surely have settled for a point at that stage.

Then in stoppage time referee David Malcolm dismissed Armour after he raised his hand to Black, and Loughgall finally made the extra men pay off as the game ran on to an extraordinary six minutes of added time.
And on 95 minutes Noel Robinson had the final say with that header to secure three vital points for his side.

Home boss Paul Kirk was stunned at the outcome and that prolonged period of extra-time. He said: "When we went down to 10 men we took a positive approach and we went at them.
"It was a game we didn't deserve to lose. The referee played six minutes over. I stopped my watch every time there was an incident and at maximum there was no more than four minutes. I don't know where he got it from."

DISTILLERY: Matthews (5), McCann (5), Buchanan (5), Kilmartin (6), Hagan (7), Armstrong (5), Murphy (5, Willis, 79), Thompson (6), Spence (6), Martin (4), Armour (5). Subs: West, Johnston.
LOUGHGALL: M Robinson (6), Waddell (6), Pentland (6), Peden (6), N Robinson (6), Herron (6), Emerson (6), Black (6), Wilson (5), Topley (5, McCordick, 74), Coulter (5). Subs: Quilty, Guiney.

REFEREE: David Malcolm (Bangor), 5.