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Redcastle see off Letterkenny
12.03.09
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Redcastle United...1 Letterkenny Rovers...1 (AET. Redcastle won 3-1 on penalties) by Liam Porter, Inishowen Independent WHEN referee Gerard O’Kane blew the whistle for full-time on this encounter on Sunday, the Redcastle physio ran on to the pitch towards keeper Gerard Crossan, not with an ipod, but with treatment in mind. Manchester United’s cup final win over Spurs a week earlier had been attributed to the use of an ipod before the penalty shoot-out by keeper Ben Foster, but Redcastle’s knew that mobility for their keeper was all they’d need to be in with a great chance. Crossan who sustained a knock late in the game limped badly over the length of the field for the penalty shoot-out, but such is his reputation for saving spot kicks that local supporters were confident that he didn’t need any help from an ipod and even injured he’d still come up trumps. Their confidence was justified when he dived to his left to save from Letterkenny’s Marty McAteer, making it two misses from three for the visitors. Eamon Davenport and Dee Coll had already scored from the spot for Redcastle, Conal McGonigle had rattled the post for Letterkenny before Darren McElwaine found the net with their second. McAteer’s miss maintained Redcastle’s advantage and Mickey Devlin slotted home to put the pressure on the experienced Shane Bradley. |
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The former Finn Harps man
struck his shot well enough and it rattled the bar
shaking a shower of raindrops to the sodden pitch, but
it didn’t hit the net and Redcastle were through. In all honesty it was no less than they deserved. The Inishowen League’s table toppers had enough chances in the game not to have needed a penalty shoot out to secure the win and it would have been tough luck on them to have lost it in the lottery of the shoot-out. The home side had the best of the chances and showed the greater desire to win throughout the game and that determination had seen them go in front mid way through the second half. A lapse in concentration in the Redcastle defence however let Rovers back into the game a few minutes later and neither side could muster a winner in the rest of normal time or indeed in extra time. For the first half hour there was little to separate the sides, but if anything Redcastle would have been more pleased than their Ulster Senior opponents with the way the game had started. The home defence must surely have expected a tougher opening than they got from a Rovers side who didn’t muster a threat until the 32nd minute when Darren McElwaine headed wide from a long shane Bradley free kick. |
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Three minutes later Brian
Tracey, the best player on show on the day, fired over
from just outside the box after winning a tackle in the
fashion that epitomised the Redcastle spirit in the
first half. With Gavin McCauley and Damian Coyle impressing in the centre of the park the home side played some neat football in the last fifteen minutes of the first half and carved out the best chance in the 39th minute. A fine passing move saw the ball eventually switched wide to Ciaran McGrory. His fine cross found Tracey who had nipped between the Rovers central defenders only to direct his header agonisingly wide of the post. The second half started in the same fashion with Redcastle pressing and causing problems for their USL opponents. It took a brilliant save from Caolan McGettigan to deny the home side a lead in the 60th minute when he tipped away Tracey’s free-kick but four minutes later the home side did go ahead. An excellent move down the right saw the ball worked to Damien Coyle and his pin-point cross was headed low into the bottom corner by Ciaran McGrory. As Rovers tried to respond Cathal McGowan made a great tackle on Paddy McNulty in the 70th minute and when the Rovers man insisted he should have had a penalty, the game threatened to spill over for a few minutes. It was during this period that Redcastle lost their concentration and Rovers equalised. A free-kick in the 71st minute caught the home defence out when it was flicked on and Glen Hamilton, one of the better performers on the day for Rovers, nipped in at the back post to steer home the equaliser. Garbhan Grant and Brian Tracey traded shots off target at either end with just five minutes to go, but in horrible conditions both teams looked happy to settle for extra time. And both could have won it when the extra time came, the first period providing the best entertainment and the best chances of the game. Eamon Davenport’s great through ball to Tracey split the Rovers defence after just three minutes but McGettigan made a good save from his attempted chip. Paddy McNulty then forced Gerard Crossan into a good save at his near post and straight away at the other end Mickey Devlin’s low cross was worked back to Colm McLaughlin who fired just wide from the edge of the box. At the other end a terrible mistake by Dee Coll allowed McNulty a clear run through on goal, but Crossan was off his line quickly to make an excellent save and tip the ball off the toe of the Letterkenny man. With just seconds of the half remaining McLaughlin had another great chance to put Redcastle ahead, but McGettigan dived full length to his right to tip away a stinging drive from the midfielder. The second half of extra time was a tighter affair though Rovers were lucky to escape to the end with a full compliment of players, McNulty getting only a yellow for a raised elbow with just two minutes left on the clock. Letterkenny might have won the game right at the death however when Shane Bradley powered his way into the box at a corner, but his header flashed wide of the post. After that it was down to the lottery of the penalty shoot-out and Redcastle’s numbers came up once again, thanks in no small measure to keeper Crossan who didn’t even need an ipod! Redcastle Utd: Gerard Crossan, Liam Davenport, Eamon Davenport, Dee Coll, Cathal Faulkner, Gavin McCauley, Colm McLaughlin, Damian Coyle, Ciaran McGrory, Brian Tracey, Paul McGowan. Subs: Mickey Devlin for P McGowan (73 mins), Seamus Doherty for G McCauley (75 mins). Letterkenny Rovers: Caolan McGettigan, Conal McGonigle, Shane Bradley, Marty McAteer, Kieran Gorman, Mark Friel, Kieran Greene, Glenn Hamilton, Darren McElwaine, Josh Mailey, Paddy McNulty. Subs: Garbhan Grant for Josh Mailey 51 mins. For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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