ACFL 1:
Longstone 0-10 Rostrevor
0-12
By Colm Fitzpatrick
ACL 1
STONE FEEL THE PINCH
Longstone 0-10 Rostrevor 0-12
The return of Conor Daly from suspension
made a major contribution towards
Rostrevor getting back on the winning
track with this useful victory at
Longstone on Friday. The Reds midfielder
hit four points for his side, three of
them from play, to give his side a two
point victory margin at the end of a
lively game. But the real story of this
match was not about the player whom
Rostrevor welcomed back; it was about
the length of the Longstone injury list,
which at the start of this game,
included men of the calibre of Ambrose
Rodgers, Ryan Kelly, Barry Kelly, Eamon
Trimble, Peter Trainor, Norman McCombe
and Adrian Trainor.
AMBROSE BACK
Ambrose Rodgers did make an appearance
for the second half, Ryan Kelly for the
final quarter, but by then the damage
had been done. Stone were outplayed in
just too many positions in the first
half to be able to stay with the
visitors. Midfielders Conor Daly and
Shaun Parr were being allowed to pick
their passes to the lively Lloyd Parr
and Brian Cole, and Dermot mackin was
raiding with impunity out of the half
back line. the score at half time was
0-8 to 0-3 in Rostrevors favour, and
Stone could have been much further out
of touch, for their last two points had
been snatched by Mark Poland in the
final couple of minutes before half
time. Reds scores had been equally
distributed among their most adventurous
players, three to Conor Daly, two each
to Dermot Mackin and Martin Doran and
one to Lloyd Parr.
IMPACT
The introduction of Ambrose Rodgers did
lift Longstone’s performance in the
second half, though less for anything he
actually did, [he is still clearly a
month or so off match sharpness], than
for the impact it made on his teammates
performances. Barry Doran, in particular
began to make things happen. He hit two
points in the opening ten minutes of the
half, and his brother, Stephen, had
another, so that, suddenly, Rostrevor
had a real game on their hands.Lloyd
parr converted a Rostrevor free after
Brian Coles run had been halted
illegally, but Ambrose then broke a high
ball down into the path of Stephen Doran
to leave Stone just 0-7 to 0-9 in
arrears entering the final quarter.
GOT THE MESSAGE
Reds got the message, and Conor Daly,
Lloyd Parr and Sean Farrell all shot
over from play in the space of five
minutes to give the visitors a more
comfortable 0-12 to 0-8 cushion. That
was enough. Barry Doran pointed a free
in the 59th minute, and Mark
Poland added a fine score in injury
time, but the nearest we came to a goal
was at the other end, where Adrian
Poland re-acted instinctively to keep
out a Brian Cole flick.
INCONCLUSIVE
It was an inconclusive sort of game for
both sides. Rostrevor are still
searching for their best formation, and
the men who did most to impress the
selectors here were Sean Farrell, Colm
Murney and Dermot Mackin at half back,
Conor Daly at midfield, and Brian Cole
and Lloyd Parr in attack. Longstone know
they will be a very different
proposition when they get all or most of
their injured men back. In the meantime,
Conor Smith, Michael Higgins, Barry
Doran and Mark Poland are still doing
the business.
Longstone scorers; Barry Doran [0-5] 4
frees; Mark Poland [0-3]; Stephen Doran
[0-2]
Rostrevor scorers; Conor Daly [0-4] 1
free; Lloyd Parr [0-3] 1 free; Martin
Doran [0-2]; Dermot Mackin [0-2]; Sean
Farrell [0-1]
Longstone team; Adrian Poland; Michael
Higgins, Eamon Quinn, Glen Burden; Conor
Smith, Mark Doran, Cormac Poland; Gerard
Quinn, John Magee; Ciaran Doran, Barry
Doran, Gary Trainor; Mark Poland, Sean
Trainor, Stephen Doran.
Subs used; Ambrose Rodgers for Sean
Trainor; Ryan Kelly for Gary Trainor.
Rostrevor team: Padraig Mulholland;
Jarlath Farrell, Martin Cole, Kevin
McGrath; Sean Farrell, Colm Murney,
Dermot Mackin; Shaun Parr, Conor Daly;
Martin Doran, Fintan McBreen, Eamon
McConville; Lloyd Parr, Brian Cole, Gary
Farrell.
Subs used; Conor Mackin for Gary
Farrell; Turlough Murphy for Dermot
Mackin; Niall Farrell for Martin Doran.
