Club News

10/07/02 St. John's suffer heavy defeat to Dunloy in close affair

The hurlers were upbeat going into this match even though the odds were stacked firmly against them, Dunloy showing off many County stars past and present on their side. And, for 3/4's of the game at least, the hurlers showed that they could compete with their North Antrim counterparts.

Brian McFall provided the home side's majority of scores in the first half, converting a high percentage of frees from his centre-half back position. Dunloy characteristically punished even the slightest error by St. John's and took their points with ease when given any space. Both Allister Elliott and Paddy Richmond started the game quietly for Dunloy however once Allister Elliott was moved out to left corner forward Dunloy immediately began to apply pressure to the St. John's defence.

Chris Clarke stood out in particular in corner back dominating both his man and his position and clearing his line well, however his partner on the other wing, Conor Gannon, found the going particularly tough once Allister Elliott was moved onto him. Despite ending his county career recently the Dunloy man showed no sign of slowing up and was a source of constant problems in the first half.

St. John's kept Dunloy firmly in their sights in the first half battling hard and working for one another - the first half finishing up 0-5 to 0-8.

The second half resembled something like a Jekyll and Hyde story with St. John's getting within touching distance of their opponents and then being swept away in a disasterous 15 minute period towards the end of the match.

St. John's started the brighter in the second half taking a few early scores and the defence began to tighten up more on their men. An exchange of points then followed for a time when disaster struck. Dunloy pucked the ball into the square, the defence blocked it out to the wing, was recovered by Allister Elliot who then struck it hopefully into the box. What would normally be a routine save for the ever dependable Ciaran Cunningham in goal deflected in off his hurl into the net. A soft goal which Dunloy didn't deserve and which knocked the wind out of St. John's.

Sensing this weakness the next 15 minutes saw Dunloy pressing home their advantage and what followed was wave after wave of attack which the defence could not cope with. Within the space of a few minutes a 2 point margin for Dunloy turned into 10 points with the goal, a series of points and another goal which the right half forward sent into the top corner of the net, the keeper powerless to save it.

Dunloy were relentless in attack and grew in confidence, becoming deadly accurate with their long range scores. In the end the match finished up 0-12 to 2-20, not a true reflection of the match itself, but a heavy defeat for the hurlers nonetheless. But for a brief period in the second half the hurlers were very much in the game and at the very least they showed their heart and determination towards the end of the game to keep on trying despite being so far behind.

 

		St. John's
		C.Cunningham
C. Gannon		N. Reynolds	C. Clarke
C. Kelly		B. McFall	N. Kelly
		D. O'Hara C. Thompson
S.Thompson		E. Blaney	G. Clarke
G. Hamilton		R. Heenan	P. Montgomery
(Subs: L. Donnelly for S. Thompson)