Moyola Park entertained Premiership side and current Irish Cup holders Glenavon at the Mill Meadow in the 5th round looking to cause an upset.  Moyola manager Mervyn Pattison gave new signing Paul Muir his debut in a five man defence which also saw Kelly come in for Kilpatrick.

The first chance of the game came in the 5th minute when Bradley crossed the ball in and it was cleared by McQuillan.  A minute later Marshall crossed from the right and Lindsay headed over.  In the 10th minute Braniff had his shot saved by Farniok in the home goal and 2 minutes later Kilmartin saw his shot also saved by Farniok. With 14 minutes on the clock Moyola took the lead when Dowie passed to Larkin and he found Walls on the left who fired a shot under Blayney to make the score 1-0.  In the 21st minute Patton saw his free kick go straight through to Farniok.  Moyola supporters started to dream in the 30th minute when a long ball down field was missed by Glenavon captain Lindsay and Dowie capitalised and fired a shot into the bottom left hand corner past Blayney to go 2-0 up.  A minute later a corner by Braniff was header over by Lindsay.  Glenavon should have pulled a goal back in the 37th minute, however O’Brien headedagainst the post following a free kick by Braniff.  With the visitors pushing to get back into the game and with 5 minutes left in the first half McAllister cleared following a dangerous cross by Sykes and a minute later Kilmartin fired his shot wide following a mistake by Muir.  With the half coming to a close both O’Brien and Bradley saw shots saved by Farniok.

Glenavon made two changes at half time with Hamilton and McCabe coming on and this had a near instance effect when in the 48th minute and the Moyola defence not clearing the ball, Braniff fired a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner to get the visitors back into the game. In the 52nd minute Patton headed wide following a cross from the right and in the 58th minute Bradley fired a free kick well wide of the Moyola goal.  The visitors got an equalizer in the 61st minute when a corner on the right by player manager Hamilton was flicked by Kelly over his own goal keeper Farniok following a header by Braniff.  In the 66th minute Lindsay again headed wide following a corner by Hamilton.  The home side had a chance in the 73rd minute when a great run by McAllister found Dowie who passed to Walls on the left and his shot was saved by Blayney.  The visitors made their final change in the 74th minute when Neill came on.  With five minutes left and the game looking as if it would go to penalties, Hamilton saw his dangerous ball into the box punched clear by Farniok.  With the game into injury time, the visitors broke the hearts of the Moyola faithful when a coner by Neill was headed into the top corner by Bradley.  With the game deep in injury time Moyola manager Mervyn Pattison replaced Stewart and Walls with Wilkinson and Taggart.

This was a great performance by the home side and the players would indeed be disappointed to not have at least taken the game into extra time and maybe penalties.

The club would like to thank all those who helped out in any way at today’s game and especially match game sponsor Houston Electrical Contractor (Maghera) and match ball sponsors Hastings & Co Solicitors (Ballymoney) and Robin Martin Painting Contractor (Castledawson)

Moyola Park: Marty Farniok, Craig McAllister, Steven McQuillan, Steven Kelly, Gareth Stewart, Paul Muir, Robert Lucas, Diarmuid Larkin, Darren Walls, Chris Dowie, Eugene Gallagher. Subs: Aaron Wilkinson, Conal Fitzpatrick, Conor Taggart, Connor Barrow, Steven Kenning

Glenavon: Alan Blayney, Rhys Marshall, Simon Kelly, Kris Lindsay, James Singleton, Mark Sykes, Andy Kilmartin, Kevin Braniff, Mark Patton, Declan O’Brien, Eoin Bradley. Subs: Kyle Neill, Gary Hamilton, Shane McCabe, Ciaran Caldwell, William Murphy