Tyholland Game

The game was only 2 minutes old when Johnny Reilly was injured and had to be replaced. A big loss to the team early on but thankfully his replacement Rory Carroll coped  very well with his duties. Paul Mc Keown who was to have a trail blazing first half opened the scoring with a fine point dispatched while under extreme defensive pressure in the third minute. Stephen Mc Guirk playing in an unaccustomed half forward position doubled the Rockcorry lead two minutes later. A minute later Paul Mc Keown added his second point from play to make it a three point advantage. Tyholland reduced the deficit in the 10th minute only for Dwayne Rooney to extend it two minutes later. Paul Mc Keown added his third point of the match in the 14th minute before a trio of Tyholland points reduced the lead to one point. In the 19th Paul Mc Keown turned provider by setting up Noel Carroll to open his account. Tyholland converted a free in the 24th minute only for Paul Mc Keown to again turn potent finisher and increase the Rockcorry lead to two points. Then in the 26th minute of the half Rockcorry found the Tyholland net when the mighty Quinn (Colin) struck a thunderbolt to extend the Rockcorry lead to double scores. However, full credit must go to Tyholland who struck back with a goal of their own only two minutes later. Rockcorry though finished the half stronger with points from frees for Mark Daly and Stephen Mc Guirk. Half time score Rockcorry 1 – 9, Tyholland 1 – 5.

While the bulk of the scoring was done in the first half good defence was a feature of  our second half display with Garry Calvert performing well and the faultless Kieran O’Hart dominating the small square. Anthony Tate in goals marshalled his defence well while Pauric Reilly and Keith Daly tackled assiduously and with the latter acting as a highly effective sweeper. Niall Mc Keown and Noel Carroll our two attacking half backs kept the Tyholland on the back foot for much of the game. In midfield Mark Daly shone as ever with Owen Fitzpatrick showing his power and catching game at its best. Colin Quinn caught many of the breaks and Stephen Mc Guirk proved his worth with his free taking and attacking prowess. Paul Mc Keown a veritable scoring machine from play was at the peak of his powers particularly in the first half, while Seamus Carroll gave great support in attack. Dwayne Rooney at full forward led the line with intelligent positioning and ball distribution while early sub Rory Carroll played his part in the victory.

Paul Mc Keown started the second half as he did the first with an early point to open the scoring. In the 9th minute Tyholland scored their first point of the half. A minute later Dwayne Rooney gave the pass to Stephen Mc Guirk for the latter to score. Two frees converted by the visitors reduced the arrears midway through the half before Stephen Mc Guirk added to his tally, this time from a free in the 21st minute. Tyholland rounded off the scoring in the 28th minute with a point. The last few minutes were somewhat nervy for Rockcorry as Tyholland pressed for a goal that could level the game. Thankfully from our perspective the defence stood firm and we held on for a hard but well earned victory.

This was a make or break game for our lads. Prior to this match we were rooted to the bottom of the table on four points. On the plus side this was only two points short of our nearest competitors. A win was vital. And a win was what we got. Admittedly it was a star game, however we were also missing two vital players on our team in the shape of Damien Matthews and Mickey Conlon. We played with a passion and energy that was missing from recent outings and showed the hunger and desire required to win and ease our relegation burden, for the time being at least. It was a free flowing game with only one yellow card shown. Tyholland play an exciting brand of football but on the night we were able to cope with their game and effectively impose our own fast flowing game on them. Well done to all. There is still a lot of work to be done and results to be earned but for now, onwards and upwards. Final Result Rockcorry 1 – 12, Tyholland 1 – 9.

Team and Scorers – Anthony Tate, Garry Calvert, Kieran O’Hart, Pauric Reilly, Niall Mc Keown, Keith Daly, Noel Carroll ( 0 -1), Owen Fitzpatrick, Mark Daly ( 0 -1), Stephen Mc Guirk ( 0 -4), Paul Mc Keown ( 0 – 5), Johnny Reilly, Colin Quinn ( 1 – 0), Dwayne Rooney ( 0 -1) and Seamus Carroll. Subs Rory Carroll and Andrew Carroll.