Late points secure narrow but deserved victory for Drumkeerin
After almost six minutes of injury time at the end of an absorbing contest in Ballinamore's Pairc Sean Ui Eislin, Drumkeerin emerged victorious against their near neighbours Allen Gaels in the U-16 League 15-a-side Final last Friday.
A strong and well balanced Drumkeerin side were deserving winners but Allen Gaels deserve great credit for the part they played in the game.
Drumkeerin dominated the opening exchanges but were unable to reflect their superiority on the scoreboard due in no small part to some excellent saves by Allen Gaels’ goalkeeper Diarmuid McKiernan.
The first of those saves arrived within 10 seconds of the start as Drumkeerin worked the ball forward quickly before McKiernan made a fine save to deny Adrian Forde.
With practically their first attack, Allen Gaels registered the game’s opening score as Nathan Flynn was on the end of a good team move to find the net.
Showing a good turn of pace, Nicholas Moore surged forward before passing to Kyle Flynn who in turn picked out his brother Nathan with a fine pass. Nathan applied the finish the move deserved to give Allen Gaels a lead which was against the run of play.
Drumkeerin opened their account when Forde pointed a minute later after Ciaran Hickey’s pass. Drumkeerin looked the stronger team, particularly when attacking through the middle, they were finding it difficult to take their scores.
Drumkeerin’s second point arrived in the 10th minute after fine work by James Gallagher and Cathal McAuley before Dean Brolly applied the finishing touch with a well taken score.
The Drumkeerin players must have thought they had taken the lead for the first time in the 13th minute but again they were denied by an excellent save from McKiernan, denying Adrian Forde for the second time as he raced from his line to smother the shot which deflected wide for a 45.
Drumkeerin were soon back on level terms as Jamie Langan effortlessly converted a 45. However, Allen Gaels were back in front within a minute as Nicholas Moore converted an equally impressive 45.
With the pace of the game ever increasing, Drumkeerin were denied a goal for the third time as Forde had to settle for a point following a fine fingertip save from McKiernan. That chance was created by an excellent run by Hickey through the heart of the Allen Gaels defence.
With 11 minutes of the half remaining, Allen Gaels edged their way back in front with a Nicholas Moore point after Adrian Sorohan had initially been denied by an excellent block from Tommy Rogan.
The pressure Drumkeerin had been exerting on the Allen Gaels defence was rewarded two minutes later as Ciaran Hickey scored a memorable individual goal. He skipped past three players on his way to goal before drilling an unstoppable shot low to the bottom left corner of the goal to give Drumkeerin the lead for the first time in the game.
Realising the dangers posed by the Drumkeerin attack, the Allen Gaels management responded by switching full-back David Wynne to the wing forward position, centre back Shane McLoughlin moving back to full back and Bryan Beirne moving to centre back.
Those changes seemed to have the desired effect as Allen Gaels looked much more solid in midfield and defence and five minutes before the interval struck for their second goal of the game. Shane Walsh played an excellent pass into the path of Nicholas Moore who beat his marker before delivering a powerful shot past Patrick Kelly.
It got even better for Allen Gaels two minutes later when Ryan Heron goaled after Patrick Kelly was unable to hold Shane Walsh’s shot.
The first half scoring was completed by Jamie Langan who effortlessly converted a 45 to leave three points between the sides at the interval as Allen Gaels led 3-2 to 1-5.
The feeling at half-time was that if Allen Gaels could contain Drumkeerin for the opening 10 minutes they may be able to secure an unlikely victory.
Two converted frees from the impressive Nicholas Moore within five minutes of the restart helped increase Allen Gaels’ lead while at the other end Drumkeerin were finding it difficult to convert the opportunities they were creating.
Seven wides inside the opening 15 minutes of the second half gave an indication of Drumkeerin’s problems but two converted frees by James Gallagher in between another excellent McKiernan save to deny Jamie Langan, brought them right back into the game.
With both sides giving their all, Allen Gaels responded with two points from Nicholas Moore, one of which was a free.
However, Drumkeerin were now looking the stronger of the sides and with less than 10 minutes to play, they hit back with five points of their own, three of which were scored by James Gallagher while Adrian Forde and Ciaran Hickey were also on target to leave just a point between the sides with little more than a minute and a half remaining.
As the game entered, its final minute Nicholas Moore regained the lead for Allen Gaels but there were still several twists and turns remaining in this contest. Shane Walsh levelled matters before Jamie Langan struck an excellent point from a difficult angle in the first minute of injury time to regain the lead for Drumkeerin.
As Drumkeerin were pushing for an additional score that would all but secure victory, Allen Gaels launched a quick counter-attack that saw Nicholas Moore show great bravery to risk injury in order to win a breaking ball that allowed Ciaran Walsh the opportunity to level matters.
Despite the pressure on his shoulders, Walsh made no mistake and it seemed as though the game was heading to extra-time.
However, there was still further injury time to be played and in the fifth additional minute Adrian Forde struck to regain the lead for Drumkeerin and a minute later victory was confirmed when Darren O’Donnell pointed.
To lose at the death was tough on the Allen Gaels players who contributed hugely to a very enjoyable game but Drumkeerin were worthy winners. They were strong all over pitch and were it not for some top class goalkeeping from Diarmuid McKiernan, Drumkeerin may well have had some more breathing room as the game entered injury time.
Drumkeerin
Patrick Kelly, Tommy Rogan, Declan Daly, Thomas McPartlan, Paul Hazlette, Felim McHugh, Robert Fee, James Gallagher (0-5), Dean Brolly (0-1), Cathal McCauley, Ciaran Hickey (1-1), Jerome McGuire, Adrian Forde (0-4), Jamie Langan (0-4), James Gallagher. Subs: Darren O’Donnell (0-1) for James Gallagher (corner-forward) HT.
Allen Gaels
Diarmuid McKiernan, Kevin Moran, David Wynne, Sean Gunning, Alan McTigue, Shane McLoughlin, Nicholas Moore (1-7), Adrian Sorohan, Brian Moran, Nathan Flynn (1-0), Shane Walsh, Bryan Beirne, Ryan Heron (1-0), Kyle Flynn, Niall Sorohan. Subs: Ciaran Walsh (0-1) for Niall Sorohan (33 mins).
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Tuesday 22 May 2012
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