Redcastle show six appeal 25.02.10
Inishowen Engineering Reserve Division One

Gleneely Reserve...1 (O’Brien 51) Redcastle Reserves...6 (S. Curran 14, Murphy 30, T. Davenport 58, S. Davenport 69, J. Curran 78, S. Gill 85) by Caoimhinn Barr, in Gleneely (Photos: Evan Logan) REDCASTLE bounced back from last weekend’s shock home defeat at the hands of Dunree to wallop Gleneely on a bitterly cold Saturday night. Liam Davenport’s men eased past their promotion rivals, with six different scorers eventually putting Gleneely to the sword. It could have been a different story however had the home team taken some of the chances that fell their way in the first hour of the contest. Gleneely also had two first-half strikes ruled out for offside by referee, Martin McGonagle. Clinical finishing made it an easy win in the end for the Foylesiders, though Gleneely will play worse and win this season. A scrappy opening ten minutes produced little in the way of opportunities before Gleneely striker Christy Smith raced clear only to be thwarted by a great save from Redcastle keeper Michael McCole.

Smith’s counterpart, Redcastle number ten Shaun Curran made no mistake moments later when the skilful forward capped an excellent solo run by slotting home to give the visitors the lead. Strike partner, Brendan Murphy, carved out another chance for Curran but this time the Redcastle forward fired too high. Gleneely remained a constant threat with the front two of Smith and O’Brien, in particular, causing concern in the Redcastle defence. O’Brien collected Kevin Doherty’s astute pass to set-up Smith but the lively Gleneely forward clipped his shot just over the bar. Intelligent play by Gleneely winger, Enda Folan, had Redcastle on the back foot again but the red and black stripes stood firm. Gerard Doherty’s team thought they had equalised on 27 minutes only for Christy Smith’s neat chip to be disallowed for offside.

In a close call, Martin McGonagle gave Redcastle the benefit of any doubt. Two minutes later and the home team were made to pay for their profligacy in front of goal. A flowing Redcastle move, involving the two Davenports and Kevin Toner was expertly finished by Brendan Murphy, who calmly chested the ball in the box before side footing past Gleneely keeper Houghton. The scoreline was hard on Gleneely, who continued to threaten at the other end. First John Doherty robbed Stephen Davenport before shooting too high, then an excellent tackle by Redcastle defender Robert McLaughlin denied Cory O’Brien a goalscoring opportunity.

Gleneely appeared to be back in the contest towards the end of the half but once again a Martin McGonagle raised hand ruled out Cory O’Brien’s effort. Five minutes into the second period and the home team were finally in business. When William Hutchinson’s shot was not properly cleared Cory O’Brien pounced to stab the ball home. With their tails up, Gleneely looked odds-on to score the next goal and square the contest. Christy Smith almost got the goal his play deserved in the 58th minute but his attempt was cleared off the line by Redcastle defender, Evan McDermott. Ninety seconds later and the stuffing was knocked out of Gleneely when Trevor Davenport got on the end of Brendan Murphy’s brilliant pass to stroke home Redcastle’s third goal of the game. This time Gleneely had no answer and fell further behind ten minutes later as Redcastle, with the impressive Stephen Davenport in midfield, began to dominate. Kevin Toner and Brendan Murphy combined well to set Trevor Davenport away on the left. The talented winger fired in the perfect cross for his namesake, Stephen Davenport, to head home. Not to be outdone, midfielder James Curran got in on the act next, collecting Brendan Murphy’s pass before rolling the ball into the Gleneely net. A few minutes before the end, substitute Shaun Gill made it six different scorers for Redcastle, when the big defender converted James Toner’s cross at the back post. The 6-1 scoreline was tough on Gleneely, who had to endure another ten minutes of injury time.

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