Drumaness too
strong for St John’s under-14s
Drumaness too
strong for St John’s under-14s
Drumaness 1-09 v
1-05 St
John’s
Thur 21st April
St
John’s under-14s’ winning run came to an
end as they ran into a determined
Drumaness team that was very strong in
all departments. St John’s competed well
in the one-to-one battles, and every
player can take credit for that, but as
a team they were unable to get passing
moves together. Or perhaps they weren’t
allowed to.
There was little to choose between the
teams in the opening ten minutes. Both
sides competed well for possession and
tried to show their attacking intent.
Perhaps Drumaness had the greater share
of possession but it was St John’s who
had the more scoring opportunities.
But
Drumaness then hit a purple patch
between the tenth and fifteenth minutes
when they sent over five points in quick
succession with Johnny Potter and Conor
Magoram being to the fore. That period
was to set them up for the win.
Harry McMullan pointed to open the
visitors account but Drumaness replied
with their last point of the half. St
John’s had to work hard for their
chances but eventually Conor Morgan
pointed. Then David Milling burst
through the middle with a powerful
surging run to bring the margin down to
three points. Drumaness shot three wides
and saw another effort drop short to St
John’s goalkeeper Chris Feenan who,
along with full back Daniel McKay, dealt
comfortably with most balls in and
around the square. The last significant
action of the first period saw St John’s
reduce the margin further as Ruairi
McGlynn broke Hugh Flanagan’s accurate
pass down for Joe Lennon to fire over.
Drumaness performed better at the start
of the second period. The shot a couple
of wides before they saw a high shot
come back off the upright. The ball was
eventually scrambled away for a 45. When
the 45 came in there was another
scramble and when the ball came to rest
it was in the back of the St John’s net.
Drumaness followed this up with another
point to give a 1-07 to 0-04 lead with
twenty minutes to play.
Shane Rice saw a free drift narrowly
wide before Ryan O’Reilly saw goal bound
shot well saved by the Drumaness keeper.
Drumaness pointed again before St John’s
rallied again. A couple of efforts went
wide under pressure from defenders
before Shane Rice pointed. Then David
Milling surged through with another
powerful run and sent a scorching shot
to the back of the net to reduce the
margin to three points. The sides traded
wides after that as St John’s sought an
equalizer but they were disappointed
when Drumaness were awarded a penalty.
They had a let off when the penalty was
fired wide but were unable to capitalize
on the let off. Drumaness got an
insurance point in the dying minutes to
see them safety home for two deserved
league points.
Drumaness were good value for their win
and they might claim that the margin
should have been greater. St John’s will
take heart from the way they battled
throughout – they won’t be an easy game
for any opposition.
St John’s: Chris Feenan; Anthony Doran,
Daniel McKay, Chris McKay; Harry
McMullan (0-1), Declan Gilmore, Darren
Savage; David Milling (1-1), Shane Rice
(0-1); Conor Morgan (0-1), Joe Lennon
(0-1), Ryan O’Reilly; Hugh Flanagan,
Ruairi McGlynn, Martin Keenan. Subs –
Jamie Artt (for Joe Lennon), Joshua
Wells, Philip Brennan, Kevin Keenan,
Patrick Keenan.
