Club News

01/12/02 End of the road for valiant Under 21's

Finally after many weeks delay we got to play the match on a breezy day at Casement.

It was obvious from the off that it was going to be a 'game-of-two-halves'. The wind was blowing almost straight down the field and we were to play against it in the first half.
After 15 minutes we were 3 points to no score behind, but in view of the wind conditions we were not too unhappy with that, plus the defence seemed to be coping well with a lively Rasharkin forward line.

A nice move up the field left Clarkie with the goal in his sights after 17 minutes but the conditions played their part in seeing the ball go wide when a goal seemed otherwise a certainty. What this would have meant had the ball gone in is anybody's guess, but a few of the spectators thought that the match may have taken a different course.

Conal Kelly pointed a free on 20 minutes and the score looked good enough at 0-3 to 0-1. They then got a free to make it 0-4 to 0-1.
After 25 minutes the Ref gave a free to Rasharkin for a harsh looking foul by Aaron Douglas and his subsequent booking was to prove costly later. The free was pointed, and another from a free 2 minutes later left the score at 0-6 -0-1. A minute later they got a point from play and then came the cruncher - a seemingly harmless shot from 20 yards was deflected past Niall, and the game was left at 1-7 - 0-1. In injury-time of the first half they got another pointed free and the half-time score was 1-8 - 0-1. The fact that just a flukey goal and 2 of the points came from play could arguably be a result of some dubious refereeing decisions during the game.

The second half started with a substitution after 2 minutes - Brendan Tully replacing Harry Connolly. Immediately after this we were given hope when Kevin McGlinchey cracked a great goal to the net. A scoreline of 1-8 - 1-1 seemed ok at the time, but from the kick-out Rasharkin went down the field and scored a very good goal of their own. Another substitution was made with Adrian Oliver replacing Sean Mallon after 9 minutes of the half. Rasharkin then had another point from play to bring it to 2-9 to 1-1.
It was here that things took a turn for the niggly-side. There were a few altercations on and off the ball, and the game seemed to drag a little as a consequence. Aaron Douglas got a second yellow after 28 minutes for a seemingly legitimate tackle on one of their men, but if truth were told the game was up by then regardless. The score was 2-10 to 1-3, and indeed this was to end up the final score.

Altogether I think the club will be happy - if not with the performance on the day then - with the fact that, with a fairly young team, we got the semi-final of the championship. Remember that we weren't really expected to beat Portglenone in the first round, but we then went on to beat Moneyglass and Rossa, before losing to a very good Rasharkin team. They certainly provided great entertainment and a welcome boost to football within the club in what is usually a quiet time of the year.

Let's hope we can keep these lads together for the future and then... who knows!

Rory Best - 1/12/02

		St. John's
		N. McCallin
J.J. Hartigan		D Rafferty	A. Douglas
S. Mallon		A. Press	N. Kelly
		K. McGlinchey C. Kelly
G. Rafferty		G. Clarke	H. Connolly
J. Mead		N. Reynolds	G. Cunningham
(Subs: B Tully for H. Connolly, A. Oliver for S. Mallon)