John Brennan 

 

Saturday afternoon saw the visit of Kilclief to the Quarter Road in what was potentially the most important game for Glasdrumman in their effort to stay clear of the bottom four in Division 2. Going into this match Glasdrumman were one point clear of Kilclief and therefore a win would have left them three points clear with Kilclief’s last two games being against Attical and Downpatrick. Given this position the stage was set for a nail biter. Four minutes into the game a long probing ball into the Kilclief goalmouth was fisted to the net by Cormac Murphy and this was six minutes later by a excellent point from the same player. Kilclief pulled two points back from their free taker Kieran Sloan on eleven and fourteen minutes to reduce the deficit. A minute later with Glasdrumman on the attack the ball was given away and with the defence stretched Conor Sloan planted the ball in the Glasdrumman net to put Kilclief ahead for the first time. Glasdrumman responded quickly with points from Raymond Magorrian and Colm Carr within two minutes but Kilclief had their best spell of the game with two more points from Kieran Sloan and one each from Andrew Fitzsimmons, Kieran Polly and Martin Craig against a single point from Connaire Harrison to leave the half time score Glasdrumman 1-04 Kilclief 1-07.

The first score of the second half fell to Kilclief to leave four points between the teams but with positional changes and the introduction of second half substitutes it looked as if a different Glasdrumman team had taken the field compared to the last ten minutes of the first half. Playing with total commitment and determination Glasdrumman forced their way back into the game and Cormac Murphy reduced the deficit after four minutes. This was quickly followed by points from substitute Shane Feeney, Raymond Magorrian and Connaire Harrison to leave the game all square. Conor Sloan restored the Kilclief lead after thirteen minutes but their lead was short lived as Glasdrumman forced the pace and were rewarded with two points from Raymond Magorrian and one from Connaire Harrison to give them a two point lead and looking comfortable. They say that goals win games and how true that is was demonstrated in the twenty third minute when a bad mistake in the Glasdrumman defence allowed Kilclief in for their second goal of the game totally against the run of play. This put Kilclief back in front by a single point but it also allowed them back into a game where they had been totally outclassed since half time as Glasdrumman reeled from the body blow. Kieran Sloan added a point to the Kilclief tally and while Shaun Brennan’s point reduced the deficit to one it was Kilclief who had the last say with a Darren Swail point to leave the final score Glasdrumman 1-12 Kilclief 2-11.

Glasdrumman: Ronan McDowell, Art McCartan, Kevin Burns, Daniel McCartan, Brian Burns, Francis O’Neill, Mark Trimble, Declan Grant, Martin O’Neill, Raymond Magorrian (0-4), Sean McDowell, Connaire Harrison (0-3), Raymond Clarke, Cormac Murphy (1-2), Colm Carr (0-1).

Substitutes used: Shane Feeney (0-1) for Declan Grant, Gary McGreevy for Sean McDowell, Shaun Brennan (0-1) for Colm Carr.

Kilclief: James Steenson, Gary Cull, Jonathan Hawes, Conor Hynds, Martin Craig (0-1), Phelim Sharvin, Liam Woods, Ronan Strain, Kieran Sloan (0-5), Kieran Polly (0-2), Dale Curran, Andrew Fitzsimmons (0-1), Conor Sloan (1-1), Darren Swail (0-1), Richard Kerr (1-0).

 ***   Next senior match is away to An Riocht  on Saturday at 4pm.

***   New club jerseys are now available for ages 5/6, 7/8 and 9/10. Contact Terry Joyce on 43767450 for more details

***   Bingo as usual in the clubrooms on Thursday night commencing at 8.30pm.