Aughnamullen 1-6 Rockcorry 0-9

Streamline Coaches Intermediate Football League, Round 9 – Sunday 30th May

Improved second half display sees Rock earn a share of the spoils

Team: Jamie Smith, Colin Reilly, Damien Matthews, Garry Calvert, Keith Daly, Johnny Reilly 0-1, Stephen McGuirk 0-1, Mark Daly 0-6, Niall McKeown, Keelan Clerkin, Liam Connolly, Noel Carroll, Mark McGuirk 0-1, Paul McKeown, Dwayne Rooney.

Subs: Barry Patterson for Garry Calvert.

You wouldn’t want to have a weak heart when supporting our senior team! After our last grasp winner against Inniskeen a week ago we used another ‘get out of jail’ card when we travelled to Sarsfield Park on Sunday 30^th May to play Aughnamullen in the Streamline Coaches intermediate football league. The team produced a very lacklustre and unimpressive performance, particularly during the first half, but we did manage to find some sort of rhythm in the second half to emerge with a share of the spoils, which was probably a fair outcome.

On a perfect surface on a fine sunny day for football, Aughnamullen had the advantage of a tricky cross field wind in the first half, that was quite deceptive and possibly it contributed to some of the mediocre football that was on display. We opened the scoring in the first minute when Mark Daly converted a twenty metre free kick after Liam Connolly was brought down. Aughnamullen levelled the contest from a twenty–five metre free, in the 4^th minute, after Colin Reilly fouled his opponent. Keelan Clerkin kicked wide in the 5^th minute after good work from Paul McKeown and Noel Carroll and Aughnamullen missed chances in the 6^th and 7^th minute kicking wide on both occasions. A minute later, we were awarded a free-out when, an Aughnamullen forward was penalised for an illegal hand pass.

We wasted two good chances through hasty shooting between the 9^th and 11^th minutes, one from Keelan Clerkin and other one from Niall McKeown. Aughnamullen went ahead in the 12^th minute when they converted a free kick after Damien Matthews fouled his opponent. However, we responded swiftly when Keith Daly won the kick out and delivered a measured pass to Johnny Reilly who fired the ball over the bar for a fine score.

Aughnamullen quickly restored their advantage when they broke down field, aided by some sloppy defending (as the Aughnamullen forward was completely unmarked) and he blasted an unstoppable shot past our goalie Jamie Smith to hit the top corner of the net to open up a three point lead 1-2 to 0-2. In the 16^th minute, Noel Carroll, from a difficult angle, kicked wide while under pressure and four minutes later we had a very lucky escape when an Aughnamullen forward weaved his way past our defence and he was clean through for a certain goal but he somehow managed to hit his shot wide.

Moments later Aughnamullen were on the attack again when they lobbed a ball into our square and miscommunication between Jamie Smith and Damien Mathews could off cost us dearly but thankfully we were able to regroup and clear our lines. In the 22^nd minute, Keith Daly surged forward from right half back position but his attempt at the uprights drifted wide. Aughnamullen had certainly done their homework by crowding out the defence and making sure our danger men were starved of good possession and this worked as they often broke down our attacks. This certainly was the case in the 23^rd minute, when Johnny Reilly was fouled but our inability to move the ball quickly and our over elaboration eventually led to nothing. Aughnamullen increased their lead a minute later when they converted a free-kick from thirty metres out and when Jamie Smith decided to take a short kick-out, it backfired as, Garry Calvert collided with an Aughnamullen player and gave away a needless free-kick which they took quickly and they curled over a neat point to open up a five point gap 1-4 to 0-2.

We managed to close the deficit in the 28^th minute, when Mark Daly converted a free-kick, after Johnny Reilly made a solo run goal-bound and was hauled down approximately twenty-five metres from goals. Paul McKeown kicked wide in the 29^th minute before Damien Matthews thwarted an Aughnamullen attack which was the last action of the first half and at the interval the score was  Aughnamullen 1-4 Rockcorry 0-3.

During the interval team management switched Liam Connolly to midfield with Niall McKeown moving to the forty, a move that paid dividends. When play resumed Aughnamullen got off to a dream start as they extended their advantage with a fine point from play after only thirty seconds. In the 2^nd minute, Keith Daly made another surging run up-field and was fouled approximately thirty metres from goals and his older brother Mark stepped up and sailed over the free kick. A couple of minutes later Aughnamullen were awarded a free and for dissent the referee brought it up and they converted a much easier free-kick to leave the score 1-6 to 0-4. At this stage of the game Barry Patterson was introduced for Garry Calvert and he soon made an impact around the midfield area, as he broke down the ensuing kick-out that Niall McKeown collected and he went on a solo run towards goals and directed a lovely pass to Noel Carroll who side-stepped his marker and rifled a shot towards the goals but the Aughnamullen goalie made a terrific save to deny us a goal.

Paul McKeown obviously left his shooting boots at home as he kicked another wide in the 8^th minute, however, we did manage to close the gap in the 12^th minute when we capitalised on a mistake by an Aughnamullen player when he was penalised for an illegal hand pass and Stephen McGuirk notched the free-kick over the bar. Now trailing by four points we gradually upped our game and reeled off four unanswered points on the trot. The first coming from the boot off Mark McGuirk, as he finished off a rare flowing move that involved a number of players to score an inspirational point to reduce the deficit to three points. Shortly afterwards, Mark Daly showed his accuracy from a free-kick to glide the ball right between the uprights, after Johnny Reilly was brought down, approximately thirty metres out. The gap was reduced to the bare minimum within a couple of minutes when Mark Daly scored a fabulous point after collecting a pass from Paul McKeown, to leave the score 1-6 to 0-8.

In the 17^th minute, Mark McGuirk was hauled down along the sideline and Stephen McGuirk elected to take the free-kick quickly to Niall McKeown but on this occasion, his hand pass was deemed illegal and Aughnamullen were awarded a free out. A couple minutes later, Noel Carroll was denied a goal (when perhaps he should off tapped it over the bar) when his shot to the low corner was again well saved by the Aughnamullen goalie. However, one minute later we were gifted another free when an Aughnamullen player was penalised for lifting the ball off the ground and Mark Daly showed great composure to convert the free-kick and draw the side’s level 1-6 to 0-9.

It took good defending, in the 23^rd minute, to keep out an Aughnamullen attack and for the remaining part of the game our defence got on top to things. We squandered a couple of good chances, to take the lead, towards the end of the game. The first, in the 24^th minute, when a Mark Daly free-kick, from a long distance out, went narrowly wide and Paul McKeown shooting a very poor wide in the 27^th minute. The remaining minutes was tit-for-tat with no team creating any significant opportunity and the game ended on score-line Aughnamullen 1-6 Rockcorry 0-9.

Looking back at the game, which had a little bit of everything in it, we were treated to the best and worst of what we can do. It’s not my intention to criticise, but to use a title from one of the best Clint Eastwood movies “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” I will give my assessment of the game. Firstly, I will start off with the good points and its fair to say that the level of performance was well below par, (when compared to previous games in the league campaign) particularly in the first half, however, the spirit and the battling qualities that the lads showed in the second half was very encouraging as they dug deep to earn themselves a draw. They say “no rose is without its thorn” and unfortunately our poor passing or should I say lack of passing and wayward shooting remains our bad points. Finally our consistent over elaboration with the ball, continually running into cul-de-sacs, and our inability to create space for ourselves is a worrying trend and remains the ugly side of our game and one that requires improvements. At one stage, during the game our play was compared to our under 10 team where all kids tend to run after the ball trying to get a touch of it! With the preliminary round of the Intermediate championship just around the corner major improvements will be needed in our performance if we are to get over the first hurdle, named Currin.