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Burt add to Carn’s woes
28.10.11
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Burt...0-12 Carndonagh...1-05 WHAT a difference an hour makes. Burt and Carn both came into last Saturday’s Division 3 meeting needing a win to ease relegation fears. With fewer league games remaining, Carn’s need was greater but playing to their now familiar defensive counterattacking system, Burt got the hard fought win that not alone eases relegation worries but catapults them into the hunt for promotion. Defeat leaves Carn mired in the relegation dogfight, and their very survival in Division 3 now hinges on their final game against fellow strugglers Milford. Even though what seemed like a week’s rain fell on Saturday alone and the Reserve game was postponed, Hibernian Park was playable and both teams played their part in serving up an entertaining contest where the outcome was in doubt right up until the end. Burt took the lead right from the throw in when Enda McDermott broke Eamonn Reddin’s long ball into the path of Ciaran Dowds and the latter slotted over. Joe Boyle got on the end of a long passing move to double Burt’s lead in the fourth minute and, having missed from a similar position moments earlier, Paddy McDermott pointed a free kick from the right corner to have Burt 0-3 to 0-0 ahead by the seventh minute. |
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Having been slow to settle,
Carn soon came to grips with the game and Dominic
Doherty set up Fergal Matthews who pointed from a
central position almost 40 metres out. Carn won the resulting kick out and played a long ball into the square when Gerard Doherty was hauled to the ground by Paul O’Brien and a penalty awarded. Burt keeper Stephen Gillespie dived to his left, but Donnacha Gallagher calmly stroked the spot kick down the middle and into the net. At the other end, Gerard Crossan came smartly off his line to cut out a long ball over the top to Enda McDermott. |
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Carn were enjoying the
lion’s share of possession in this period but couldn’t
convert it into scores. Burt deployed Kevin McDermott as
a second full back and with Martin Donaghey’s sure hands
cutting out a couple of attacks, they held Carn to a
single point, which came from the boot of Fergal
Matthews in the 20th minute after Crossan had taken
another quick kick out. Enda McDermott chose the final ten minutes of the half to give a masterclass of fielding, finding space and taking scores: he hit five unanswered points, four off his right foot and one off his left. Burt’s ploy of playing him close to goals paid a huge dividend and he got on the end of long and direct passes from Joe Boyle, Seamie O’Donnell, Benny Harrigan and Ciaran Dowds. Even though Carn changed their markers and then put two men on him, McDermott glided past them and having trailed by two with ten minutes remaining, Burt actually led by 0-8 to 1-2 at half time. Joe Boyle extended Burt’s lead within moments of the restart with a left footed point but Carn responded well and saw two good goal chances, from Gerard Doherty and Garvin McGrenra go a begging. McGrenra had only just come on the field as a sub when a shot from distance hit the post and dropped into his hands. He shot low, but Kevin McDermott got a block in and while Carn half-heartedly appealed for a penalty for a perceived foot block, referee Langan paid them no heed. Carn’s defence was much improved in the second half with much less space afforded to the Burt attack. Rory Ward impressed in that sector as did Paddy Nelson and Joe Lafferty. But they were finding it hard to get scores. Donnacha Gallagher converted a 44th minute free that Ritchie Cunningham had won, but Ciaran Dowds laid off to Joe Boyle for the latter to maintain Burt’s four point advantage. Even though Burt led by four, the game was far from over and when Donnacha Gallagher landed a massive 45m free in the 53rd minute there was just a goal between the teams. And with Gerard Kinnego proving an effective target man, they created two more chances but, unfortunately for them, failed to take either. Kinnego was adjudged to have been in the square for the first of those chances and in the 57th minute a low kick by Eanna Newton was flicked on (by someone: in the darkening gloom it was hard to see exactly who got the touch) and Stephen Gillespie made an excellent diving save low to his right to keep the Carn men at bay. With Carn pressing forward in numbers, Burt exploited the space left in defence. Eamonn Reddin, who took up his customary position in midfield after a red card issued in last week’s junior final was overturned on appeal, played a free into space on the left wing for Rory Grant to run onto. Grant held off a defender and put Burt four clear and after a sweeping move from defence, Enda McDermott added the insurance point in the 60th minute with another left footed effort. Carn rallied hard in the four and a half minutes of injury time allowed by referee Langan, but Gallagher spurned a scoreable free and while Ryan Davenport hit a late point, Carn were left to rue those missed goal chances. Burt: Stephen Gillespie; Benny Harrigan, Paul O’Brien, Mark McGavigan; Paul McHugh, Martin Donaghey, Johnny Downey; Kevin McDermott, Eamonn Reddin; Seamus O’Donnell, Paddy McDermott (0-1, f), Rory Grant (0-1); Ciaran Dowds (0-1), Joe Boyle (0-3), Enda McDermott (0-6). Carndonagh: Gerard Crossan; Michael Nelson, Joe Lafferty, Ronan O’Connor; Paddy Nelson, Pádraig Doherty, Rory Ward; Dominic Doherty, Oliver McConalogue; Ryan Davenport (0-1), Donnacha Gallagher (1-2, 1-0 penalty, 0-2f), Fergal Matthews (0-2); Ritchie Cunningham, Gerard Doherty (K), Paddy McCallion. Subs: Garvin McGrenra for R O’Connor and Michael McLaughlin for P. McCallion (both 40 mins); Conor Doherty for D. Doherty and Eanna Newton for F. Matthews (both 46 mins). Referee: Don Langan (St Michael’s). GAME AT A GLANCE Man of the match Carn were best served by the hardworking Oliver McConalogue, Fergal Matthews and Paddy Nelson, while Burt numbered Martin Donaghey, Kevin McDermott and Eamonn Reddin amongst their better players, but Enda McDermott once again gets the shout. No matter whether the ball comes high or low, or whether he’s marked by one man or two, McDermott can win possession and turn it into scores. And he works hard further out the field too. Six points in all, including five in the ten minutes before half time when he tormented the Carn defence, is man of the match material in anyone’s language. Referee watch The biggest call Don Langan had to make all day was whether to deem the pitch playable. Saturday’s incessant rain had cleared by the time throw-in came around and while Hibernian Park was like a paddyfield an hour before the start, it was playable and the game went ahead. Langan got the penalty call right, and issued enough yellow cards to help keep players’ in check. A good performance from the man in black. Move of the match Burt’s final point started from a move in deep in their own half where strong off the shoulder support play from Mark McGavigan, Martin Donaghey and Paul McHugh moved the ball swiftly upfield and a final diagonal ball set up McDermott for a well taken left footed point. What’s next? Burt will play Down champions Bredagh in the quarter final of the Ulster Junior Club Football Championship in O’Donnell Park next Sunday. The club have already qualified for the Ulster Junior Club Hurling final, but the football equivalent is a step into the unknown. Carn, on the other hand, have one final league game against Milford where a win is imperative if they’re to avoid automatic relegation. Carn beat Milford by 2-12 to 0-17 when the sides met in August, and would give their eyeteeth for a similar result this time round. For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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