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Downpatrick
win by four - 24/03/03
East
Down MFL Section A Round 7
Downpatrick
1-09 Lorcha na Farriage 0-08
By Marc MacSiomoin, Dundrum
EDMFL Section A Round 7 23/3/03
Downpatrick RGU 1-09 Lorcha na Farriage
0-08
Referee: L.Morgan
A depleted Lorcha na Farriage side took
to the field today at Downpatrick and came away with a four
point defeat. They came up against a hungry home side who
had a litany of resources to choose from. The loss of the
two very influential McComiskey brothers and the hard-hitting
Kearney proved too much for Lorcha to cope with. A makeshift
side was arranged and Lorcha took to the field with no replacements
available.
The first half was only two minutes old
when the RGU's Marty Robinson floated over a free. For the
next ten minutes both teams shared equal possession before
O'Hare opened Lorcha's account on twelve minutes. During
this period Lorcha missed a penalty but this seemed to spur
the lads on. A minute later, O'Hare added his second with
a free. By now Downpatrick were getting to grips with the
Lorcha forwards and were starting to break up attacks. Then,
inside the space of two minutes, BJ McMennamin hit two points
for the RGU to give them the lead. Again on twenty one minutes,
Robinson pointed a free and this was followed two minutes
later when Fergal Ward went on a good run to split the uprights.
Lorcha's response came five minutes later when the roaming
half-back McShane combined well with Mageean and Fitzsimons
to raise the white flag. McShane's effort was followed by
a double from O'Hare. The first from a free and the second
from play. With matters all square, the RGU pressed on before
half-time and found a score in the shape of a well executed
Shot from Caolan Quinn. This was to be the final action
of a tit for tat first half in which both teams failed to
break away from each other.
Half Time: Downpatrick RGU 0-06 Lorcha
na Farriage 0-05
The second half began with Lorcha finding
themselves in a better position to dictate play. Ten minutes
into the affair and Mark O'Hare fired over the bar to put
Lorcha on a level footing. A minute later disaster struck
for the visiting team. Corner forward Mark Fitzsimons was
rushed to hospital with a suspected broken nose after being
on the receiving end of an elbow to the face. Without any
subs, Lorcha could only despair. The RGU secured a numerical
advantage which was to secure them the game. After play
resumed, Caolan Quinn pointed to put the RGU in the driving
seat. Downpatrick then assumed control of the game and on
fifty minutes Boyle hit his first of the game. The killer
blow then arrived for Lorcha three minutes later when the
nippy McMennamin found the net. Despite this, Lorcha dug
deep and on the hour mark O'Hare raced through to give Lorcha
a glimmer of hope. A minute into injury time and O'Hare
did much of the same again to leave Lorcha trailing by a
goal. But by now the Lorcha train had been derailed and
salt was added to their wounds two minutes into injury time
when the RGU got the last score of the game. Morgan blew
it up to the relief of Lorcha and to the joy of the RGU
a minute later.
Today marked the end of Lorcha's League
campaign. It was a bit of a downer for the six players who
were playing their last League game as Minors. Downpatrick
deserved their win but they can attribute their winning
formula to the fact that Lorcha played the majority of the
second half with only fourteen men. Lorcha had their best
players in McKibben, Rooney and Hugh Robb at the back with
Mageean and Doyle on top at midfield as per usual. Up front
only O'Hare and McShane registered scores. In all truth,
this was a major discouragement for Lorcha. Missing six
players didn't help and the deducement to fourteen players
only made matters worse. The game in all certainty proved
to be the final straw in what can only be described as a
dissapointing Lorcha League campaign.
Lorcha Team and scorers; King, Melville,
McKibben, Rooney, H.Robb, C.Robb, McShane (0-01), Mageean,
Doyle, Kavanagh, O'Hare (0-07), Hogg, Brown, M.Robb, Fitzsimons.
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