St John’s under-14s rue missed chances against
Bredagh
|
Bredagh 6-13 v 2-06
St John’s
Thu 7th Sept
St John’s under-14s missed out on an
opportunity to leapfrog Bredagh in the A
league table when the sides met at
Boucher Road, Belfast, last Thursday.
They came away disappointed both with
the result and with their performance.
They failed to play as well as they can
and will know that had they performed to
their usual standards that the outcome
may well have been different.
The malady seemed to be spread equally throughout the team,
perhaps in part as a result of the
restricted space on this small field.
Still the posts were of a standard size
so it is hard to understand why it took
fifteen minutes for the
St John’s
forwards to find them. Granted some
shots drifted wide as Bredagh defenders
put the attackers under pressure – the
same thing also happened at the other
end – but the Johnnies got no reward
from scoreable frees from three
different kickers.
St John’s first score was a goal for
Chris McKay. His initial shot hit the
post but rebounded to him and he
gratefully accepted the second
invitation. That scored equalized
Bredagh opening score, a goal when
midfielder Emmet Costello was allowed to
run through the St John’s defence.
Darren Savage goaled soon after to put St John’s ahead but
this lead didn’t last long. The
St John’s defence were unable to clear
the danger when a free dropped in around
the square and the ball ended in the
back of the net. Bredagh added another
goal before the first point of the game
– centre half-forward Conor McCluskey
caught a high ball, turned swiftly and
fired over without any more ado.
Chris McKay pointed a free for
St John’s but this was sandwiched
between Bredagh points to leave the
score at the interval at 3-3 to 2-1. The
five point deficit could easily have
been overturned and when Chris McKay
pointed upon the restart there were
grounds for optimism. But that hope was
soon quashed as it as the home side who
upped their game. They extended their
tally to 5-4 before St John’s scored
again – another point from Chris McKay.
Darren Savage added another but Bredagh
stretched their advantage to 6-9 to 2-5
with fifteen minutes remaining, with
Martin Keenan’s point being the only
thing to cheer the
St John’s
supported until Conor Morgan got the
final score of the game.
St John’s: Chris Feenan; Neil Magorrian,
Daniel McKay, Jamie Artt; Josh Wells,
Darren Burns, Conor Morgan; Ryan Gordon,
Harry McMullan; Hugh Flanagan, Darren
Savage, Anthony Doran; Chris McKay,
Martin Keenan, Philip Brennan. Subs
Kevin Keenan for Jamie Artt, Joe
Milligan for Darren Burns, Ruairi
McGlynn for Chris McKay, Conor Gilmore
for Philip Brennan.
