Morgan Fuels Down SFC round 2A: St Mary’s, Burren 2-3 RGU Downpatrick 0-2
IT was a windswept washout that, until the middle of the second half, could have gone either way – but it was Burren who found the key scores when it mattered most to seal their spot in tonight’s quarter-final draw.
On a day when conditions were king, the fact there were only seven scores to savour saying more than words ever could, late goals from Ryan Treanor and Ryan Magill ultimately killed off RGU hopes.
Yet, let there be no doubt, this was nothing like ordinary championship fare.
Any misty-eyed reminiscences of summer days spent by the seaside, splashing around on the beach in Newcastle, were banished as sheets of rain fell relentlessly, aided by the gale-force wind blowing in off the Irish Sea.
Ground staff gamely swept away rivers of water from both squares as throw-in time neared. Long before the teams took the field, the weather decreed that a dogfight awaited, the opening 10 minutes bringing more slips than the old Slippery Dip as players struggled to stay on their feet.
Downpatrick had the wind at their backs for the first half but were unable to make it pay as any attempt at long balls into lone forward Jarlath Brannigan skidded off the surface and out over the endline.
Burren – missing Down midfielder Odhran Murdock due to injury - patiently dominated possession, albeit posing little threat to a well-organised RGU defence. Still, when Treanor slotted over four minutes in they couldn’t have imagined it would be another 42 before another point was added.
A Brannigan free levelled it up after 20 minutes and, as both trudged off at the break, the scoreboard reading 0-1 apiece, it looked to be in the lap of the Gods how this one would pan out.
“I thought we were well in the game,” said RGU boss Aidan Robinson.
“We fancied ourselves at half-time because we played Burren earlier in the year, it was a dogfight and we got over the line. We knew we could match them physically.
“But fair play, it wasn’t a day for football but they adapted better.”
Robinson’s men were living dangerously early in the second half as Burren began to turn the screw, hemming their opponents in but failing to make RGU pay as they kicked wide after wide.
This was not a day for Liam Kerr to shine, but the Burren playmaker wisely elected to fist over as he advanced into the square on 46 minutes to edge the St Mary’s ahead.
From there, a tale of two goalscoring opportunities would hold huge sway. Downpatrick missed theirs a minute after Kerr’s score, Burren ’keeper Callum Grant brilliantly turning Sean Bell’s low shot around the post after good work by Peter Turley and Brannigan.
When the chance came Treanor’s way in the 50th minute, meanwhile, he made no mistake.
Despite being urged by Gerard McGovern to play the ball back, Ryan Magill launched a long ball towards the RGU square. Donal O’Hare, fresh from the bench, defied the elements to catch it clean, played across to Treanor who sold two Downpatrick defenders a dummy before slotting home.
It looked a long way back from there, and Burren finished the job in style when Ryan Magill lashed high to the net deep into added time to ensure RGU will go into the last chance saloon next weekend.
It may not have been pretty but, having ground it out against Mayobridge in their championship opener, St Mary’s boss Jim McCorry was just pleased to have come away with another victory.
“It’s very hard to play football in conditions like that,” he said.
“It’s not the high scoreline people want in a championship game, and it doesn’t show teams at their best, but those conditions were terrible.
“A lot of these games, there are only going to be one or two points in it, and with conditions like that it can become a bit of a lottery. We showed a lot about the character and the organisation within the team, so that’s what I’d be proud of most.
“It’s just nice to get the victory and we’ve two weeks now to get ready for the next round.”
Burren: C Grant; P McCarthy, P Fegan, C McGovern; R Magill (1-0), D McEntee (0-1), R Cunningham; G McGovern, D Magill, K McKernan; N Toner, J Kelly, R McGrath, L Kerr (0-1); R Treanor (1-1). Subs: S Fegan for McKernan (44), D O’Hare for N Toner (44), C Toner for McEntee (58), C Cox for C McGovern (60+3), A McAvoy for R McGrath (60+3)
Yellow card: D McEntee (55)
Downpatrick: P Telford; C Doherty, R Murphy, E Rooney; N McShane, G Collins, D Turley; P Turley, A Doherty, C McCarron; T Smyth, S Bell, J Bell, O Cunningham; J Brannigan (0-2, frees). Subs: M Fitzpatrick for J Bell (50), J Collins for P Turley (53), C Farrell for McCarron (54)
Yellow card: G Collins (30+3)
Referee: C Gribben (Glasdrumman)
