Betsy Gray: Bredagh
307 Liatroim 3-10
Bredagh 3-07 Liatroim
3-10
There was just a puck of the sliotar
in this game but in reality, in Bredagh's
first outing of the season, they were
out-fought, out-hustled and out-played
by a stronger more cohesive Liatroim
outfit who showed why they made it to
the 2007 Ulster Intermediate championship
final.
It was a nip and tuck affair in the
first quarter with both teams exchanging
two points apiece with the Bredagh points
coming from an Anderson free and a well-taken
solo effort from Eoghan Donnelly. Bredagh
edged ahead on the 14th minute when
Doole pounced on a loose ball and first-timed
it to the net. The second quarter was
all liatroim as they knocked over two
easy frees before a mix-up in the Bredagh
defence gifted a goal on the stroke
of half-time to leave the scores 1-5
1-2 in Liatroim's favour at the interval.
Bredagh started well in the second period
with two well-taken points from Doole
and Niall Donnelly who was introduced
at half-time. Young Donnelly was posing
problems for Liatroim and in the 36th
minute he found McAllister who goalled
from close range to edge Bredagh two
in front. Danny Hughes was forced to
retire and this unsettled the Bredagh
defence who conceded another goal to
go one behind.
As the game entered the final ten minutes
Anderson struck a long-range point before
Moriarty finished to the net after good
work from Niall Donnelly to put Bredagh
back in front. Liatroim were now finding
a lot of space in their forward line
and almost immediately replied with
a goal of their own to leave the score
3-8 3-7 in their favour.
As the clock ticked down Bredagh went
all out for goals with Niall Donnelly
again going close from a free but Liatroim
held strong and closed out the game
with two further points to finish deserving
winners on the day.
"Just not good enough" was
coach Colm McGuinness's assessment after
the game and that would be fair comment.
The Ormeau Road men never really got
going in this game and although they
could have won the game that would have
been very unfair on Liatroim who were
the better team throughout. Liatroim's
ability to control the middle-third
and close down Bredagh in numbers was
a telling factor.
There was no real man-of-the-match displays
from any of the Bredagh squad, that
said McMullan in goals did nothing wrong
and kept Bredagh in the game with a
couple of fine saves in the closing
stages. Bredagh's defence generally
was too slow for a sharp Liatroim attack,
the visitors controlled midfield and
broke out of their own defence too easily
for Bredagh's liking.
Bredagh had a youthful front six with
minors McAfee, Donal Hughes and Niall
Donnelly starting at senior level for
the first time along with Doole, Cormac
Hughes and Eoghan Donnelly, all of whom
equipped themselves well especially
Niall Donnelly who was the pick of them
when introduced at half-time. Bredagh
having won the Down Division 2 league
and JHC last year now need to realise
their operating at a higher level and
they will have to make a considerable
improvement on this performance if their
going to win any honours in 2008.
Bredagh were missing a number of senior
players but that was no excuse as Liatroim
were also missing quite a few. This
defeat consigns Bredagh into the Betsy
Gray Shield where they take on Kilclief
in the semi-final at 2pm on Sunday 2
March in Cherryvale.
Panel and scorers: Lorenzo McMullan,
Michael McKervey, Michael Whyte, Charlie
Dillon, Liam McCollum, Danny Hughes,
Mark McGinley, Leon Bailey, Cathair
Bonner, Cormac Hughes, Jack Anderson
0-3 2f, Eoghan Donnelly 0-2 1f, Paul
Moriarty 1-0, Matthew McAfee, Paul Doole
1-1, Ali McAllister 1-0, Niall Donnelly
0-1, Mark Heron, Donal Hughes, Ultan
Power, Michael McGuerin, David Brady,
Paddy Woods, Paddy Mcgrenaghan, Kevin
Duffin, Mark Galway, Mark Devlin.
