Rockcorry 0-11 Donaghmoyne 0-15

Streamline Coaches Intermediate Football League, Round 1 – Wednesday 14^th April 2010

“Rockcorry Rue Missed Chances”

Team: Jamie Smith, Colin Reilly, Damien Matthews, Garry Calvert, Keith Daly, Johnny Reilly, Stephen McGuirk, Martin Carroll, Liam Connolly, Niall McKeown, Dwayne Rooney, Noel Carroll, Paul McKeown, Colin Quinn and Mark McGuirk.

Subs: Conor McGeough for Noel Carroll (injured), Pauric Reilly for Stephen McGuirk (injured)

We played our first game of the Intermediate League on Wednesday 14^th April against Donaghmoyne. This was a tough game to start the season against a strong Donaghmoyne side and unfortunately we had to settle for second best on the day losing by 0-4 points. Nevertheless we can take some positives from this first outing and we can look forward to better days to come.

In his post-match analysis team trainer David McGregor highlighted the failure to convert any of “four or five good chances” to put us out of reach. “With ten minutes gone in the second half we were in the driving seat leading by four points and had any of those chances gone over the bar, mentally, it would off been a real blow to them. Look, that’s football, we have to regroup, eliminate the mistakes and be ready for the next one”.

The game itself was played in glorious weather conditions at Pairc Mhuire and we opened the scoring in the first minute when Liam Connolly collected a pass from Paul McKeown and tapped over a neat point. We extended our lead moments later when Paul McKeown was fouled, going down on the ball, and Stephen McGuirk sent the free kick over the bar. Donaghmoyne responded immediately when they were awarded a free kick after Garry Calvert was deemed to touch the ball on the ground and they equalized shortly after with a fine point from play. Niall McKeown raised the white flag in the 5^th minute after good defensive play by the forwards prevented the Donaghmoyne defenders from getting out easy and Dwayne Rooney increased our lead when he curled over a wonderful point from play. We hit our first wide in the 10^th minute after Paul McKeown’s fisted attempt went wide via the upright.

Niall McKeown fouled his opponent approximately 30m from goal in the 13^th minute and the Donaghmoyne free taker made no mistake sending the ball between the posts. They could off been level a minute later when a shot came back off the upright and an alert Keith Daly was on hand to collect the ball and clear the danger. In the 18^th minute the energetic Paul McKeown increased our lead with a splendid point after soloing goal bound. Conor McGeough was introduced to the game in the 20^th minute when Noel Carroll unfortunately, had to retire from the game with a suspected hamstring injury.  The referee awarded a dubious sideline ball against Paul McKeown in the 22^nd minute, when the ball was clearly not out of play, and Donaghmoyne took full advantage and closed the gap to a single point.

We wasted two good chances through hasty shooting, between the 22^nd and 24^th minute, one from the boot of Martin Carroll and the second from Paul McKeown. From the kick out Mark McGuirk won the breaking ball and was fouled in the process and Dwayne Rooney sent a long high ball into the Donaghmoyne goalmouth that was initially collected by their goal keeper but he lost possession and a sudden shot by Paul McKeown went just wide. In the 25^th minute, Liam Connolly intercepted a pass on the 30m line and effortlessly and accurately fired over a glorious point to increase our lead to two points.  The referee Kieran Mulligan did not make too many friends in the 26^th minute when he awarded a point to Donaghmoyne, which in a lot of people’s opinion the ball was while wide! Stephen McGuirk rounded off the first half scoring when he tapped over a free kick from the left wing to leave the half time score Rockcorry 0-7 Donaghmoyne 0-5.

On the resumption of play Donaghmoyne opened the scoring with a point within twenty seconds of the throw-in. Paul McKeown restored our two point lead with a neat point from play after a swift passing movement between Mark McGuirk and Niall McKeown. Moments later Donaghmoyne were awarded a free in when Damien Matthews was deemed to foul his counterpart, and they tapped over a simple free kick.  Between the 5^th and 10^th minute we took control of the game and rattled off three unanswered points. The first coming from a Dwayne Rooney free kick after Paul McKeown was fouled. The second came moments later as Keith Daly, went airbourne to field a high ball from the kick-out and he sent a measured pass into Mark McGuirk who was brought down approximately 25m from goals and Dwayne Rooney was on hand to send the ball between the uprights.

Two wides followed, one from Dwayne Rooney and the other from Paul McKeown, before Keith Daly came forward in the 10^th minute to fire over a beautiful point after a superb build up from Paul and Niall McKeown to open up a four point lead 0-11 to 0-7.

Donaghmoyne closed the gap in the 11^th minute when they tapped over a 21m free kick and at this stage we suffered a further setback when Stephen McGuirk had to retire from the game with a suspected rib injury. Donaghmoyne continued to close the deficit in the 13^th minute when they scored a point from play. Johnny Reilly was fouled, in the 16^th minute, approximately 40m from goals and Dwayne Rooney’s attempt at the posts drifted just wide. From the kick out Donaghmoyne seized possession and after good approach play they slotted over a point to leave just a solitary point separating the teams.

During the following three minutes we squandered a number of good chances. The first a shot from Conor McGeough, the second a Dwayne Rooney free kick also going wide and finally a Mark McGuirk free kick landed short and into the hands of the goalie. At this stage, Donaghmoyne started to lord possession around midfield as their greater physique regularly saw them emerge with the breaking ball and they drew level in the 22^nd minute when they tapped over a simple free kick from the 13m line and they took the lead shortly after with a fine point from play. For the remaining five minutes Donaghmoyne firmly put the foot to the pedal and knocked over three additional points to leave the final score Rockcorry 0-11 Donaghmoyne 0-15.

On reflection, we were guilty of some poor finishing and had one of a few kicks been converted midway through the second half, the result may have been different! The lads showed great determination and real character throughout the game. Naturally, losing Noel Carroll and Stephen McGuirk were major setbacks and we hope they will be back in the green jersey as soon as possible.