BLUES TAKE REPLAY POINTS: Rostrevor 0-11
Loughinisland 1-9
By Colm Fitzpatrick
ACL
1
Loughinisland were leading by two points
with a minute to go at pettit park when
a forlorn Rostrevor voice was heard ;
“Call it off, ref!” But Declan Moore,
who had been in charge the previous week
when injury forced a 58th
minute abandonment with Rostrevor two
points to the good on that occasion, was
having none of it!
NOTHING SPECIAL
You had the feeling that it was going to
take something out of the normal run of
things to save this game for a
pedestrian Rostrevor who had stepped out
brightly enough to lead by 0-3 to 0-1
after only six minutes, but who laboured
thereafter, to make much impression on a
hard-working, well-organised
Loughinisland team.
THE DIFFERENCE
The most telling difference between this
and the abandoned game was the inclusion
of sprightly 17 year old Ben O’Reilly at
left corner forward for the visitors.
The Island teenager’s pace and
enterprise posed a succession of
problems for his experienced opponent,
Kevin McGrath. He scored seven points
himself, two of them excellent efforts
from play, and in addition drew the foul
which allowed Niall McCarthy pot the
only goal of the game from the penalty
spot eight minutes into the second half.
DULL
For the most part it was a dull
encounter, both teams rolling
methodically, but slowly and predictably
up and down the field, with retention of
possession the main priority. That was
leavened, especially in the opening
quarter, by some spectacular high
fielding around the middle of the field
from Jarlath Austin and Dan Gordon.
Austins golden spell sparked points by
Niall Farrell, Conor Daly and Sean
Farrell for a 0-3 to 0-1 lead, but when
Gordon took over, Blues levelled with
points by John Gibney and Gordon
himself, and took a two point lead
through Ben O’Reilly. Rostrevor had to
work hard for good points by Joe Fegan
and Martin Cole, but these were matched
by two more from young O’Reilly, so that
still left the home team 0-5 to 0-7 in
arrears at half time.
BLOW
There was promise for Reds in a
delightful move which saw the ball
smuggled up the right in a flurry of
passes for Conor daly to cut the gap to
one in the 35th minute, but
the incident the match hinged on follwed
hot on the heels of this, when Ben
O’Reilly wriggled inside the defence,
was brought down and Niall McCarthy made
a good job of the penalty.Ben then
darted in from the right wing to fist
Island 1-8 to 0-6 clear going in to the
final quarter, and responded to a Conor
Daly free with one of his own to keep
the gap at five points with just eight
minutes to go. Reds did finally rouse
themselves. Sean Farrell kicked a point
and Conor Daly had another from a
difficult angle, but they lacked cutting
edge up front, and could only manage two
more frees, from Conor Daly in the time
remaining to them.
SATISFIED
Loughinisland are no world-beaters, but
Brendan Mason must surely be satisfied
with the progress his side have made
since coming up from the Second Division
this season. They look respectably
mid-table, and, indeed, Fridays win sees
them leap-frog reigning Division One
champions Rostrevor with just three
games remaining.Ryan Carville Alan
Molloy and Joe Doran defended
confidently. Dan Gordon was
inspirational at times in the middle,
and they have come up with a couple of
highly promising young forwards in the
shape of the teenage O’Reilly brothers,
Jamie and Ben.
SLUMP
Reds can not be as contented. They
continue a midseason slump which has
seen them transformed from early
pace-setters to relegation
possibilities, for this result leaves
them only a point above a bottom four
spot, and the way they have been playing
they cannot count on picking up a lot
more points over their last four games
.Sean Farrell, Martin Cole and Jarlath
Austin gave them a strong ball-winning
base in the middle but they were
woefully short of inspiration in attack.
SCORERS
Rostrevor scorers; Conor Daly [0-6] 4
frees; Sean Farrell [0-2]; Niall Farrell
[0-1]; Martin Cole [0-1]; Joe Fegan
[0-1].
Loughinisland scorers; Ben O’Reilly
[0-7] 5 frees; Niall McCarthy [1-0]
penalty; Dan Gordon [0-1]; John Gibney
[0-1] 1 free.
TEAMS
Rostrevor ; Padraig Mulholland; Kevin
McGrath, Paul Magee, Jarlath Farrell;
Eddie Magee, Sean Farrell, Gary Magee;
Martin Cole, Jarlath Austin; Niall
Farrell, Conor Daly, Conor Mackin; Joe
Fegan, Gary Farrell, Martin Doran
Loughinisland; John Gibney; Ryan
Carville, Alan Molloy, Matthew Doran;
Willie Russell, Joe Doran, Conor
O’Toole; John McCarthy, Dan Gordon;
Aaron Mulholland, Gary Gordon, Jamie
O’Reilly; Niall McCarthy, Mark
Valentine, Ben O’Reilly.
Referee; Declan Moore
Man of the match; Ben O’Reilly [Loughinisland]
