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Pre Christmas cracker in
Cockhill
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Cockhill Reserves... 1 (Terry Sheehy) Carndonagh Reserves... 1 (Phil Doherty) By Liam Porter, Inishowen Independent The wet weather over the weekend might have wiped out most of the sporting action, but it didn’t affect Sunday’s reserve league clash between Cockhill and Carndonagh and it was just as well, for what a cracker this turned out to be. Although it was played on a bitterly cold morning in sometimes driving rain, the pitch in Cockhill was in great shape and it leant itself to some excellent football with both teams intent on playing the ball on the ground when they could. It made for a fascinating contest and while they had to come from a goal down, Carndonagh will be wondering how they didn’t manage to take all three points from this cracking game that had goals, a penalty miss, some great saves and the woodwork rattled more than once. |
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Determined defending from
Cockhill for whom Sean McLaughlin in particular was
excellent at the back, helped the home side and behind
him goalkeeper Declan Caldwell pulled off some fantastic
stops to keep Carn at bay. But it wasn’t all one way traffic and Cockhill had plenty of chances too including one glorious headed opportunity for Mark Gillespie, which, had it gone in, might well have won the game for the home side. Cockhill indeed had the first chance of this enthralling contest after just two minutes when Eddie Cuffe raced clear and rounded goalkeeper James McDaid, but he was forced too wide to get a shot in on goal and his pass back to the edge of the box was hammered away by Michael Nelson. Gillespe then came close for Carndonagh two minutes later, forcing McDaid to clear for a corner with his feet before Carn gradually started to find their feet. The excellent Phil Doherty was at the heart of most of their good moves and with Paul Canny and Michael Nelson providing good width they began to work some half chances. They did breach the home defence in the |
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39th minute when Barry
McElhinney beat the offside trap and raced clear, but he
saw his shot come off the post. Two minutes later McElhinney was denied again by the woodwork, this time rattling a fierce drive against the bar as the ball dropped from a corner. Phil Doherty then drove the rebound goalward but Declan Caldwell made a great save and Sean McLaughlin cleared the danger. Cockhill then took the lead three minutes into the second half when Brian King’s free kick from twenty yards was too hot to handle for McDaid and Terry Sheehy nipped in to hammer home. Carn hit back in the 53rd minute with a surging run from John Doherty that saw him pulled down on the edge of the box and when the free kick was fired in it hit a hand and the visitors had a penalty. |
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Again however they were denied by the woodwork, Phil
Doherty’s shot crashing off the underside of the bar and
then somehow Caldwell made a great reaction save
sticking out a left hand as McElhinney fired in a
rasping shot from the rebound. For a while then it was a one man show, Caldwell stopping long range shots from John Doherty on several occasions before Cockhill hit back with a neat move down the left which saw Anthony O’Donnell find Gillespie, but he could only find the ditch with his close range header. With fifteen minutes to go Carndonagh eventually got the reward for their efforts but it was cruel luck on Caldwell. He made a brilliant save to deny McElhinney and seconds later was out quickly to block a shot from Phil Doherty. However a quick throw undid the home defence and when Carn worked the ball back into the box Doherty was on hand to tap home from six yards. Even then there was drama aplenty before the end. Brian King forced McDaid into a good save as Cockhill looked to get back in front and then Carn might have gone in front in the 84th minute when a free into the box fell to Enda Sweeney who nicked the ball past Caldwell. |
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As the ball rolled towards
goal it was hammered home by Cathal Doyle, but since he
was in an offside position the goal was ruled out and
Cockhill were off the hook. They got off again two
minutes later when a brilliantly timed tackle from Kevin
McClane in the 86th minute denied Doherty who was
surging into the box. Declan Caldwell though deservedly had the last say of the day, making a brilliant parry in the 88th minute to prevent Cathal Doyle nicking a late winner for Carndonagh. All in all this was a fantastic game with some first class football played by both sides and was a great advertisement for the efforts of the players in the reserve league. Cockhill: Declan Caldwell, Brian King, Anthony O’Donnell, Kevin McClane, Terence Sheehy, Sean McLaughlin, Mark Gillespie, PJ Doherty, Eddie Cuffe, Kevin O’Donnell, Paddy Porter. Subs: Tony Doherty for Kevin O’Donnell (35); Aaron O’Donnell for PJ Doherty (58); Gerry Farrell for Paddy Porter (80). Carndonagh: James McDaid, Stephen Kelly, Kevin Kelly, Shane Donaghy, Enda Sweeney, Paul Canny, Michael Nelson, John Doherty, Barry McElhinney, Cathal Doyle, Phil Doherty. Subs: Paddy Nelson for Stephen Kelly Half-time For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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