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Loughinisland
hit equalising score - 02/03/03
East
Down MFL Section A Round 5
Lorcha
na Farriage 2-05 Loughinisland 0-11
By Marc MacSiomoin, Dundrum
Two very evenly matched teams took to
the field today at Memorial Park and produced a result which
wasn't very suprising. The two sides seemed to cancel each
other out in every area of the field. Yet this only furthered
the spectacle of the game which turned into a real battle
in the second half. This was a clean game which had little
intent yet the determination of both sides to grab the game
was never in doubt.
The first half belonged to Lorcha. Their
approach in the first fifteen minutes was one of attack,
attack, attack. After Paul McComiskey started the roll on
four minutes with a superb individual effort of a point,
the 'Island could only muster a short term response seven
minutes later with Jamie O'Reilly firing between the sticks.
The Lorcha fanfare began two minutes later when Chris "Kicker"
Hogg latched on to some woeful Loughinisland defending to
hit the back of the net. Lorcha were hungry for more of
the same and just a minute later the devilish Paul McComiskey
found the net with a thunderbolt off the gound five yards
out. The game then degenerated into a full blooded attacking
affair with tit for tat hits on each teams goals. The next
score of the game came on twenty four minutes with the 'Islands
Barry Savage scoring from an acute angle. This only spurred
Lorcha on more with Mark O'Hare easily evading John Russell
to score the last of the first half . A frantic first half
came to an end three minutes later. It looked that Lorcha
would continue their dominance in the second half but this
was not to be.
Half Time: Lorcha na Farriage 2-02 Loughinisland
0-02
The second half was only forty seconds
old when McComiskey broke past Harte to rifle over his third
score of the game. However, Lorcha lost their steam and
with some very forceful 'Island play, they lost their grip
on the game. Barry Savage scored two minutes later. Seamus
O'Hare then stepped up to pop over a minute later. Mark
Monan was starting to dictate play from his midfield berth
and this was providing a base from which the 'Island could
attack. Savage then hit another score on thirty eight minutes
and by now Loughinisland were in control. Despite another
O'Hare strike, the 'Island kept plugging away and got a
score immediately. Another arrived six minutes later through
the roaming half back Rogan. The 'Island were now only lagging
behind by a point but it could have been a lot worse in
the following minutes. Lorcha's Fitzsimons was guilty of
missing two easy chances to register after good work by
Doyle, Mageean and O'Hare. Despite this, a devestating four
minute period ensued for the 'Island. Rogan and Monan scored
successive points and another from O'Reilly levelled the
game.
By now, tensions were mounting and with
five minutes left O'Hare roamed forward to split the uprights
and put Lorcha in the lead. Yet the nature of the game came
to the surface again with Loughinisland hitting the equalising
score with three minutes remaining. The final minutes saw
Lorcha pushing heavily forward but to no avail. The game
was over and an air of satisfaction seemed evident on both
teams faces. Despite no winner, the game itself proved to
be best and both teams should be proud of maintaining high
standards in passing, shooting and sportsmanship.
This was end to end stuff. The speed of
the game demanded a high standard of fitness and concentration.
Lorcha had a sound performance in goals from Mick Robb with
John McKibben, Neil McComiskey and Mick Rooney shining in
defence. Yet again Arran Doyle and Barry Mageean played
splendidly at midfield against strong play from Rogan and
Monan. The Lorcha forwards tried valiantly throughout but
O'Hare, McShane and McComiskey must receive the plaudits.
The 'Island had strong defensive performances from Mark
Rice and to a lesser extent John Russell. The midfield stood
up to the Lorcha threat admirably whilst upfront O'Reilly,
Savage and O'Hare played their hearts out.
The game was always going to be a tight
one but with a little more intervention and polished finishing
from the Lorcha full forwards the game could have been altered
drastically. A good clean match was there to be seen and
both sides deserve credit for ensuing it. Overall, a close
call but Lorcha may have been the more dissapointed at the
final whistle.
Lorcha na Farriage: M.Robb, Kearney, McKibben,
Melville, Rooney, N.McComiskey, H.Robb, Doyle, Mageean,
McShane, O'Hare (0-03), McComiskey (1-02), Fitzsimons, Hogg
(1-00), Grant. Sub. Smith for Grant.
Referee: Shane Lowey
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