Rockcorry 0-11 Eire Og 0-10

Streamline Coaches Intermediate Football League, Round 3 – Wednesday 21^st April 2010

Rock’s Late Rally Secures Win

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

Subs: Anthony Tate for Colin Quinn.

Games against Eire Og over the years have never been easy and this encounter played on Wednesday 21^st April proved no different. While the standard off football on offer was not the greatest the game provided plenty of excitement and went down to the preverbal wire. Speaking to club chairman Jimmy McGeough after the game he stated “…it was a good grafted win, even though the football wasn’t a spectacle, a win is still a win”.

Played in Pairc Mhuire, we opened the scoring in the first minute when Stephen McGuirk curled over a free kick after an Eire Og player was blew for lifting the ball. Eire Og pulled the sides level a minute later after a long delivery caught our defence out and what may have been a goal opportunity the Eire Og attacker fired the ball over the bar. Noel Carroll raised the white flag in the fourth minute with a neat point after a swift build-up involving Martin Carroll, Liam Connolly, Dwayne Rooney and Stephen McGuirk. However, no sooner had we registered the point Eire Og were applying pressure and scored their second point from play.

A couple of minutes later Stephen McGuirk hit his second of the game from a free kick after his younger brother Mark was fouled on the right wing. Eire Og had chances in the 9^th and 10^th minute but failed to add to their tally when their shots drifted wide. Noel Carroll extended our lead in the 11^th minute when his shot, from a very acute angle, somehow managed to go between the uprights. Eire Og kicked further wides in the 12^th, 13^th and 15^th minute before they eventually closed the gap with a fine point from play. In the 19^th minute we were guilty of giving away possession and the initial shot from Eire Og was superbly blocked by Liam Connolly, however an Eire Og attacker collected the breaking ball and was fouled in the process and they slotted the free kick over to draw the sides level with 0-4 apiece.

In the 21^st  minute, Johnny Reilly was blew for over carrying the ball on the forty-five metre line and the Eire Og free taker decided to strike the ball off the ground and it went well wide. Noel Carroll won the kick-out and found Dwayne Rooney with a measured pass but unfortunately his attempt at the posts drifted wide. Good defensive work by Damien Matthews, in the 27^th minute, put the Eire Og attacker under immense pressure and his shot at the uprights went wide. Mark McGuirk restored our lead in the 30^th minute with a terrific point, after receiving the ball from Noel Carroll who broke down an Eire Og passing movement, to give us a one point cushion going in at the break with the score Rockcorry 0-5 Eire Og 0-4.

A good start is, as they say, half the work and we certainly achieved that on the resumption of play as midfielder Mark Daly won the throw-up and with a quick burst of pace left his opponents in their wake and he coolly placed his shot over the bar. A shot from Paul McKeown went wide in the 2^nd minute, but he did make amends shortly afterwards when he broke loose from his marker and curled over a fine point from the left wing to open up a three point gap.

At this stage we appeared to be in control of the game, but Eire Og had other ideas and scored three unanswered points to draw the sides all square. Their first score came in the 5^th minute after we lost possession in our defence and we were guilty of losing possession again for their second point. They equalised in the 12^th minute after Damien Matthews fouled his opponent with a push in the back. In the 13^th minute, Eire Og launched a long high ball into our goal-mouth which was fielded majestically by our keeper Jamie Smith, under severe pressure from two Eire Og forwards, and managed to clear his line. Two minutes later Johnny Reilly made a crucial block to deny Eire Og a possible scoring opportunity.

Liam Connolly won a free kick in the 17^th minute after his good work paid off by preventing the Eire Og defenders getting out easy and Mark Daly from the forty-five metre line sailed the ball over the bar. Eire Og remained in touch and scored from play, in the 19^th minute, after they won a throw-up on our thirteen metre line. Moments later they got their heads in front for the first time of the game after Colin Reilly fouled his opponent on the twenty-one metre line.

 A big talking point on the line was, were we going to throw another game away?  With a single point separating the sides we needed to produce a big five minutes. Anthony Tate was introduced to the game in the 25^th minute when he came on for Colin Quinn and he soon made an impact when he received the ball and directed a lovely pass to Dwayne Rooney who was fouled in the process and Mark Daly converted the free kick to level the sides on 0-9 apiece.

Moments later Dwayne Rooney was involved again when he was brought down approximately twenty-five metres from goals but unfortunately on this occasion Stephen McGuirk’s free kick attempt went agonisingly close but the wrong side of the post. From the kick-out Mark Daly gathered the breaking ball, after Liam Connolly thumped the ball down, and made a terrific run through the Eire Og defence and was brought down approximately twenty-five metres from goals and Stephen McGuirk, showing great composure, duly converted the free to regain the lead.

Fine team work involving Liam Connolly and Keith Daly set up the onrushing Noel Carroll who completed an excellent move when he popped over a fine point to extend our lead by two points. As we all know a two point lead is a dangerous one in GAA games and it had everyone along the line living on their nerves. With the game now in injury time Eire Og through everything at us, including the kitchen sink, and lobbed a high ball into the goal-mouth but our defence stood firm and when the referee blew for a square ball, there was a big sigh of relief.  Now there are some things in this world that just baffle me. I don’t understand universal science and how black holes work. I don’t understand how Sandra Bullock picked up an Oscar for Best Actress and I don’t think I’ll ever understand why we took a quick free to Damien Matthews in the closing seconds of the game. Two points up, seconds remaining, take it easy lads!  As it turned out, Damien was closed down instantly by the Eire Og players and he became isolated and as a result he over carried the ball. The Eire Og free taker made no mistake and put the ball over the bar to close the deficit back to a single point. Thankfully, on the kick-out the referee blew the final whistle which was music to our ears.

The spirit and attitude of the players made this a victory. Suffering the two defeats against Donaghmoyne and Doohamlet the previous week was hard to take particularly after playing well. Every player showed heart, fight, passion and on this occasion the nerve that one needs to win a battle like this one. It was a whole-hearted effort as they left absolutely everything on the field and outscored Eire Og by 0-11 to 0-10 to secure the two valuable league points.