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Urris rue missed chances
06.05.09
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By
Damian Dowds at Straid, Inishowen Independent Urris...3-5 (R. Ivers 2-1; Brian Doherty 1-1; E. Kelly 0-2 (2 frees); M. Kelly 0-1) St Naul’s...2-14 (S. Griffin 1-7 (1-0, penalty, 5 frees); B. Rose 1-3; F. McGinley 0-1; D. McDyer 0-1; A. Gallagher 0-1; B. McCabe 0-1) FOURTEEN-man St Naul’s escaped from Clonmany with a victory in the preliminary round, first leg of the Intermediate championship, but they had to draw heavily on the leadership and accuracy of county senior panellist Stephen Griffin to get the result. Playing down the Straid slope and with a strong wind on their backs, St Naul’s dominated the first half and led by 2-9 to 0-2 after 28 minutes. But Urris hit two goals before the break to give themselves a lifeline. With the elements now in their favour, the home side hit 1-1 in the first five minutes of the second half, but a scrappy 20-minute period followed, notable only for a glut of Urris wides and the sending off of St Naul’s midfielder Daniel Friel. |
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Urris’ failure to convert
more of their chances into scores cost them dearly as
the second half progressed. Points from Brian Doherty
and Martin Kelly reduced the deficit to just two points.
St Naul’s failed to score for the first 25 minutes of
the second half, but four late points from the boot of
Griffin, three from frees, gave them the result they
wanted. While winning away from home in next weekend’s return fixture may seem like a tall order, Urris caused their opponents tremendous problems in the second period and if they can be more clinical in front of goal, they can get the victory that will send the tie to a play-off. Danny McDyer and Alan Friel exchanged points early on before St Naul’s shifted up through the gears and rattled off six unanswered points – two from Griffin, two from Barry Rose and one each from Andrew Gallagher and Brian McCabe. |
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St Naul’s were profiting
from long balls into their full forward line and they
hit a quickfire 2-1 in between the 26th and 28th minutes
to put them 13 points clear. A long sideline ball from Conor McBrearty carried on the wind and broke to Barry Rose who calmly slotted past Jonathan Noone from close range. Rose added a point before Noone was adjudged to have foot blocked Andrew Gallagher, and the referee awarded a penalty. Stephen Griffin struck the ball sharply to the bottom left corner and the game looked up for Urris. But they hit back with two goals of their own in two minutes. First, Brian Doherty picked up a loose ball after Alan Friel had been blocked and he planted the ball into the net from close range. Then, Rocky Ivers raced in from the right and slammed the ball past Shaun McCready. A pointed free from Griffin made it 2-10 to 2-2 at the break. Urris knew they needed a good start to the second half and they duly delivered. Rocky Ivers got his second goal within four minutes of the restart when he got in behind the St Naul’s full back line to collect a long Eddie Kelly free and slot the ball to the net. Kelly followed up with a free a minute later that reduced the deficit to four points, but the home side lost their way after that. Despite enjoying the bulk of possession, and gaining a one-man advantage when St Naul’s midfielder Daniel Friel was sent off for a second yellow-card offence, Urris couldn’t make the most of it. They hit eight second half wides to one for the visitors. Points from Brian Doherty and Martin Kelly made it 2-10 to 3-5 in the 54th minute, but the home side failed to score for the remainder of the game. Having failed to trouble the scorekeepers during the second half, St Naul’s got their first point of the period with a 56th minute Stephen Griffin free. Three further points from Griffin, two from frees, closed out the game for St Naul’s. Urris: Johnny Noone; Sean Doherty (T), Paddy Doherty (R), Adrian Doherty; Damian Harkin, Mickey Grant, Martin Kelly; Liam Diver, Rocky Ivers; Michael Toland, Eddie Kelly, Brian Doherty; Alan Friel, Brian Kelly, Dara Doherty. Subs: Ciaran Kelly for P. Doherty (6 mins); Barney Friel for Toland (54 mins); Mark Gilmore for B. Doherty (59 mins). St Naul’s: Sean McCready; Damien McHugh, Gavin Maguire, Aidan Kennedy; Danny McDyer, Conor McBrearty, Cathal Lowther; Conal McGinley, Daniel Friel; Fiachra McGinley, Stephen Griffin, Brian McCabe; Barry Rose, Andrew Gallagher, Stuart Johnson. Subs: Liam McGroarty for McDyer (55 mins); Brendan Breen for Johnson (58 min). For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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