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Clonmany crush QPS
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Clonmany...1 (Brendan Devlin ’64) QPS...0 by Michael Stamp, Inishowen Independent, in Clonmany IN CLONMANY on a bitterly cold Sunday this Ulster Junior Cup tie was expected to be a tight game. And why not? Both clubs had been performing well in the Jackie Crossan Premier League this season with identical records of ten wins two draws and two defeats.. |
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So why did this cup tie
turn out to be such a one sided affair? Clonmany
dominated this tie from start to finish and would have
won by more than one goal if not for the heroics of
Adrian McColgan in the QPS nets. Clonmany showed their intent as early as the first minute when Brendan Devlin had a shot saved by McColgan. Steve Harkin also came close when QPS defending was suspect. Clonmany were totally dominant at this point with Jason Devlin having a cross-cum-shot tipped over and Michael Byrne also hitting over. The Swifts’ first effort was through a corner, but Raymond Buchanan could only head into Peter Devlin’s hands. Unfortunately Clonmany’s Jason Devlin had to come off with barely a quarter of an hour gone with an ankle injury. The Point's Sean Harkin hit a low free that was easily saved by Devlin but Clonmany were still on top. Clonmany almost took the lead minutes later through Paul McLaughlin who hit wide from a Brendan Devlin corner. Half way through the opening period QPS were awarded a dubious penalty when Joe Grant was adjudged to have fouled Buchanan. Buchanan stepped up to take the spot kick but Devlin easily saved his weak effort. Moments later Dean Barron was to thank for keeping the scores level when he cleared Brendan Devlin’s shot off the line. Kevin Wallace repeated the feat seconds later blocking from sub Mickey Grant. |
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| The Point’s Paul Grant then drew a good save from Devlin with a snatched shot inside the area. Michael Byrne sent a sublime ball through to Paul McLaughlin who embarked on a great run and forced a fantastic save from McColgan. Brendan Devlin also had a shot well saved by the QPS custodian before half time. | |
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The interval couldn’t come
soon enough for the away team as they were receiving an
absolute pounding. Unfortunately for them the second
half didn’t get any easier. Paul McLaughlin sent a free
kick wide for Clonmany and Michael Byrne was very
unlucky to see his shot go wide off the post. Phil Pat
Doherty’s free kick into the area was then almost sent
into the goal by Barron but the QPS right back just
managed to hook the ball over the bar. Adrian McColgan
was the hero again for QPS moments later when he managed
to tip over a Brendan Devlin header. He was stretched
again by a Michael Byrne free kick shortly after. With such dominance a Clonmany goal seemed to be a case of when and not if. It eventually came on the 64th minute. Raymond McDaid lofted a good ball to Brendan Devlin who steered a low effort past McColgan to give the home side a richly deserved lead. They nearly doubled the lead when Brendan Devlin |
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turned but had his shot
well saved by McColgan. At this point the QPS keeper was
the busiest man on the pitch and was forced to make
another save from Byrne. Byrne was a real thorn in the
side of the away defence and almost doubled the home
team’s lead but saw his shot come off a post. Shortly after this the Point had a rare effort when Peter Devlin charged Liam Burke down after good work from Barron. The game was as good as over and Clonmany ran clock down by bringing on subs and running the ball into the corner. So a deserved win for Clonmany, the only mystery being how it was only by a solitary goal. Clonmany: Peter Devlin, Joe Grant, Liam Hirrell, Phil Pat Doherty, Philip Devlin, Paul McLaughlin (Paddy Doherty), Steve Harkin, Raymond McDaid, Brendan Devlin, Michael Byrne (Darragh Doherty), Jason Devlin (Mickey Grant). Subs not used: Maurice Harkin, Stephen McLaughlin QPS: Adrian McColgan, Dean Barron, Paul Grant, Barry McColgan, Kevin Wallace, Liam Burke, Mark Duffy (Adam McColgan), Sean Harkin, Raymond Buchanan, Terry McColgan, Seanan McColgan. Subs not used, Duain Robb, Hugo Curran, Paul Hegarty For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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