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Buncrana pay the penalty
04.12.08
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Buncrana Hearts...1 (O’Loughlin 54) Dungloe Town...1 (Harley 65) by Simon McGeady, Inishowen Independent, at Castle Park FAIL TO prepare, prepared to fail, right? Well the old axiom was almost true for Dungloe Town on Saturday afternoon when separate travel arrangements meant they had to play the first twenty-seven minutes of their game in Buncrana Hearts with just ten men. However Peter McHugh’s side held out well with the man disadvantage until the cavalry arrived shortly before half time. John Harley, Dungloe’s own Johnny come lately, got the vital equaliser to send the game into extra-time and the match was eventually settled when Buncrana midfielder Ryan Curran’s missed in the penalty shootout. |
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Unsurprisingly in the
circumstances, Buncrana made the early running. In the
6th minute Kevin O’Loughlin spun around Hughie
McFadden’s challenge on the edge of the Dungloe area but
Michael Herrity slid in to rescue the visitors. Three minutes later Shane Stevens made a fine double save to deny O’Loughlin and the same Buncrana player was unlucky for a third time in as many minutes when Mark Timlin’s deep corner went off his chest and onto the post. It was a day for cool heads and in Shane McGinty, Dungloe had a midfielder whose reading of the game helped offset the their numerical disadvantage. Nevertheless, Buncrana had only themselves to blame for not finding the back of the net. In the 18th minute Timlin and O’Loughlin combined to set up Curran but his shot flew over the bar. With a full compliment of players and McHugh’s first choice team now on the pitch, the second half was a much more evenly balanced contest. Stevens was called upon to deny Peter McLaughlin at the start of the half and the superb Dungloe keeper again |
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charged off his line
moments later when Buncrana’s left-back Robbie Fullerton
threatened to take away his clean sheet. Buncrana’s own defence proved a tough nut to crack, with Andy McGinley and James Wallace proving themselves to be dominating centre-halves. In the 50th minute Dungloe almost got a fortuitous opener when John Rose headed Harley’s miss-hit shot just over. The deadlock was broken four minutes later. Dungloe were caught napping at the back. A square pass was intercepted by Timlin just outside the visitors 18 yard box. He played O’Loughlin in who flicked the ball beyond Stevens. That goal stung the visitors into life and they nearly equalised straight away. McGinty played in Harley on the left. His chip Conor O’Donnell tipped over at full stretch. O’Donnell had been a safe pair of hands all afternoon, but this was easily his most telling intervention. The visitors piled on the pressure in the final ten minutes. John McGarvey and Harley missed decent chances before Buncrana’s defences were eventually breached five minutes from time when McGinty hit an excellent through-ball for Harley who lifted the ball over the advancing Buncrana net-minder. McLaughlin had a chance to win the game for Buncrana late on but McFadden recovered to put him off his shot. Man of the match Stevens proved his worth five minutes into extra time when he again closed the door on O’Loughlin and a minute later he made an even better stop diving back to his left to keep out a header from the big Buncrana striker following Timlin’s inch perfect cross. Chances were few and far between for the remainder of extra-time, although when McGinty’s quick feet drew a foul just outside the D with one minute left, hearts were Buncrana mouths until they saw his free fly over the bar. Penalties ensued, and in the twilight both teams players scored their first three, missed their fourth and scored their fifth kicks to leave the sides tied at 4-4 going into sudden-death. Peter McLaughlin then Buncrana keeper O’Donnell both spurned kicks to win the match for Brendan Crummy’s team and when Shane O’Rourke beat O’Donnell with a fine spot-kick Ryan Curran had to score to keep Hearts beating. His kick crashed off the left post and Dungloe were through. Buncrana: Conor O’Donnell, Eoin Deery, Robbie Fullerton, Andy McGinley, James Wallace, Ryan Curran, Oisin Doherty, Darragh O’Connor, Peter McLaughlin, Kevin O’Loughlin, Mark Timlin. Subs: James Quigley for Doherty (59). Dungloe: Shane Stevens, Peter Sweeney, Shane O’Rourke, Michael Herrity, Ryan Rodgers, Hugh McFadden, Owen Redmond, John McGarvey, Shane McGinty, Daniel McHugh. * Subs: John Rose for Rodgers (33), Brian McDaid for Sweeney (33), Kevin Herron for Redmond (70), Sean McClafferty for Rose (80). * Dungloe Town started game with 10 men, John Harley on in the 27th minute. For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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