Ballymena United lost a two-goal lead to suffer a 3-2 defeat away to Limavady United on Saturday. The result ended their four-match unbeaten streak in the Premiership and leaves them eighth in the table with 12 points from ten games.
Josh Archer gave the Sky Blues a perfect start, finishing from a Charlie Allen pass after 11 minutes. Finley Thorndike doubled the advantage just four minutes later, putting Ballymena in complete control at the Limavady Showgrounds.
The momentum shifted dramatically just before halftime. Jamie McGonigle pulled a goal back for the hosts in stoppage time after an assistant referee's initial offside flag was overruled. Ballymena manager Oran Kearney was furious with the decision. "To me, the referee is the only one who sees it the way he does, and sadly that's the important person," he said.
Limavady levelled within two minutes of the restart, Jay Riley firing in from distance. The comeback was completed nine minutes later when Philip Lowry capitalised on a Daithi McCallion mistake to make it 3-2. Ballymena's task grew harder when Stephen O'Donnell was shown a straight red card following a tangle with Igor Rutkowski, reducing them to ten men for the final half-hour.
Kearney introduced Sean Murray, Stephen Fallon and Michael Leetch from the bench but his side could not find an equaliser. The defeat halts the positive momentum built from a recent run of form that had seen them take 10 points from their last 4 games, including wins over Cliftonville and Portadown. The team's goals were scored quickly, with the second coming just 15 minutes into the match. You can review the team's upcoming schedule on our fixtures page.
Ballymena must now regroup quickly ahead of their next match at home to sixth-placed Crusaders on Saturday, 17 October.
This story first appeared at aol.com
