AFCL 1: Mayobridge 1-12 Rostrevor 1-09
By Colm Fitzpatrick
ACL 1
BRIDGE MAKE LIGHT OF
ABSENT STARS
Mayobridge 1-12 Rostrevor 1-9
The absence of Benny Coulter and Ronan
Sexton on county duty was expected to
take Mayobridges performance level down
a notch or two when they entertained
neighbours Rostrevor on Friday evening.
TYRONE-TOUGH
But the evidence is that coach Mickey
Donnelly is forging a Tyrone-tough
attitude right through the Sky-Blues
camp, typified here by the way in which
they responded to the loss through
injury of top scorer Noel Sexton late in
the first half.
IN TROUBLE
Bridge trailed 1-4 to 1-6 when they lost
Sexton, who had been responsible for 1-1
of that total. In truth, they were lucky
to be so near the visitors, who had been
playing a lot of enterprising football.
Bridge were still clearly flummoxed by
the deployment of Conor daly at left
half back. Clearly,Aidan Farrell had not
made that placement with defensive
duties in mind for Conor, who proceeded
to pop up all over the pitch in advanced
positions. As he did in the very first
minute for a point, which was quickly
followed by another from Dermot Mackin
with the home defence still in
disarray. But not all Mayobridge stars
were missing. Brendan Grant began to
sort out the rearguard problems and
Michael Walsh imposed himself steadily
as the major player on the park. And by
the 10th minute, Bridge were
in front. Walsh delivered a high cross
to the Rostrevor goal area. Cathal Magee
secured it with a mighty leap, and was
pulled down on his return to earth. Noel
Sexton took the penalty with confidence
and Mayobridge were 1-1 to 0-2 ahead!
NOT FOR LONG
But not for long. Two minutes later, Joe
Fegan meandered down the left, then
picked out Conor Daly with a glorious
cross field pass to the far post and
Conor, now appearing in the right corner
forward position , stepped inside before
beating Sean Featherstone with a fierce
drive! Rostrevor pushed forward from
that with points from Conor Daly [2],
Lloyd Parr and Dermot Mackin.
Mayobridge were just about hanging in,
thanks to Michael Walsh [2] and Shane
O’Hare. So it looked bleak for the home
team when they lost the dangerous Noel
Sexton in the 26th minute.
TURNAROUND
But things don’t always turn out the way
you’d expect. Substitute Conor Garvey
made an immediate impact, cutting down
on the creative efforts of the Reds half
backs, and the next six points of the
game fell to a rejuvenated Mayobridge!
Michael Walsh and Cathal Magee [a super
effort, this] left them level at the
break. And the opening nine minutes of
the second half saw points from Conor
Garvey, Michael Walsh [2] and Seamus
Grant to push Sky-Blues 1-10 to 1-6
clear! Conor Daly promised to stop the
rot when he came up for a rare right
footed point in the 41st
minute, but that promise was soon
dashed, for the Reds lynchpin was sent
to the line minutes later for an
off-the-ball incident, and the equation
changed dramatically. Within three
minutes of his departure, Conor Garvey
and Seamus Grant had increased
Mayobridges lead to five points, and for
all that Rostrevor showed genuine spirit
in the closing stages there was no way
they were going to get the scores they
needed without the cutting edge so
regularly supplied to their play by the
missing Daly. Two frees from Lloyd Parr
cut the Bridge lead to a goal with seven
minutes still left, but despite the
tireless efforts of Joe Fegan there was
to be no easy way through a Mayobridge
defence now expertly marshalled by
Brendan Grant.
TEAM TO BEAT
On this evidence, Mayobridge are still
the team everyone has to beat in Down
football. Darren Fegan and Brendan Grant
were strong in the defence. John
Caldwell got through great work at
midfield, Cathal Magee , Seamus Grant
and Conor Garvey showed real promise up
front and Michael Walsh looked the best
footballer afield.
Reds certainly looked very lively in the
first half, with Conor Daly and Sean
Farrell fitting smoothly into their new
roles, Colm Murney sturdy at midfield
and Joe Fegan a bundle of energy in
attack. But they lost the plot for those
fatal few minutes on either side of the
break. And then they lost Conor Daly!!
Mayobridge scorers; Michael Walsh [0-5];
Noel Sexton [1-1]; Conor Garvey [0-2];
Seamus Grant [0-2]; Shane O’Hare [0-1];
Cathal Magee [0-1].
Rostrevor scorers; Conor Daly [1-4];
Lloyd Parr [0-3]; Dermot Mackin [0-2].
Mayobridge team; Sean Featherstone;
Gavin Barry, Darren Fegan, Kieran
O’Hare; Brendan Grant, Shane O’Hare;
John Caldwell, Eoghan Woods; Noel
Sexton, Michael Walsh, Seamus Grant;
Adrian Barry, Cathal Magee, Barry Garvey
Rostrevor; Padraig Mulholland; Jarlath
Farrell, Paul Magee, Turlough Murphy;
Shaun Parr, Eddie Magee, Conor Daly;
Colm Murney, Jarlath Austin; Sean
Farrell, Eamon McConville, Dermot Mackin
; Joe Fegan, Aidan Cole, Lloyd Parr.
