Strong second period sees Dromara pip
the Johnnies
St John’s
1-10 v 1-11 Dromara
Fri 25th May
|
If ever there was a game of two halves it was played out on
the green carpet at
St John’s
on Friday evening. The home side, no
doubt buoyed by a more than double
scores victory in the earlier encounter
at Dromara, dominated in the first half
hour. They played with great confidence
in the first half moving the ball with
great assurance and composure. They were
good value for their 1-7 to 0-3 interval
lead.
But Dromara came out anew for the second period and began to
whittle away at the
St John’s
lead. Three unanswered points, all from
frees reduced the margin to one score
and when Dromara won the kick-out and
netted from the resultant attack the
complexion of the game had changed
totally and we were in for a grandstand
finish.
The initial exchanges favoured Dromara but they were unable
to penetrate the
St John’s
defence. The home side didn’t really get
out of their own half for a couple of
minutes but when they did the result was
a goal from the boot of Damien Murray.
St John’s then took the game by the
scruff of the neck and imposed
themselves upon the game. Three
unanswered points put them well in
command and we had completed the first
quarter before the visitors opened their
account with a point. They did have a
couple of chances just before that, when
they hit the upright and when Darren
McMullan was called upon to make a save
– with hindsight we can see these as
warning signs.
But at the time we saw it as a blip as the Johnnies got
another three unanswered points, with
each of the half-forward line getting in
on the act; Ryan Gibney, then Sean
Fitzpatrick and followed by his brother
Brian. Dromara pointed a couple of frees
before Dan Marmion completed the first
half scoring with a massive point from
about the 45m line. Dromara had a brief
spark before the break but a couple of
blocks from Dessie O’Connor and Chris
Malone allied with a clean-up by Joe
Savage and Declan Brennan mean that it
did not register on the scoreboard.
The second half was like a different game. Dromara started
brightly enough, dropping one effort
short before pointing a 13m free. St
John’s came back with best score of the
day – Aidan Kelly won possession in the
centre of the park; he found Barry
Russell with an inspiring pass who
jinked clear of his marker before firing
over the bar. Dromara continue to
improve but this improvement was slow at
first. And perhaps confidence was
beginning to turn to complacency for
St John’s.
It was another five minutes before
Dromara registered their next point and
probably five again before they got
another. Barry Russell pointed again to
keep the margin at six points going into
the final quarter.
Now Dromara’s improvement seemed to snowball. Their pressure
resulted in three unanswered points, all
from frees, in the next three minutes.
Suddenly a comfortable six point margin
was reduced to a single score.
St John’s now looked anything but
comfortable with the situation and their
worst fears were soon realised when
Dromara won a St John’s kick out, played
the ball into the forwards and in a
flash the scores were level as the net
bulged. And there was still ten minutes
to play.
St John’s tried to push forward again
but their confidence was dented. They
had a chance to nose ahead again but the
shot drifted wide. With the next attack
Dromara had pushed in front but Dessie
O’Connor equalised. Again the Johnnies
had opportunities to take the initiative
but fired wides. The last score saw the
visitors ahead again. The final whistle
came too soon for the Johnnies but was
received with delight by the Dromara
players and supporters. They deserved
the spoils for the character they had
shown in their second half fightback.
St John’s: Darren McMullan; Declan Brennan, Joe Savage, Chris
Malone; Dessie O’Connor (0-1), Aidan
Kelly, Stevie McAllister; Sean Kelly,
Dan Marmion (0-1); Brian Fitzpatrick
(0-2), Ryan Gibney (0-1), Sean
Fitzpatrick (0-1); Barry Russell (0-2),
Damien Murray (1-0), John Fegan (0-2,
1f). Subs used: Eugene O’Boyle for John
Fegan, Conor Braniff for Chris Malone,
Eoin
McKinney for Sean Kelly.
