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Cockhill fight back to take
the points
02.10.08
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Cockhill...3 (Donaghey 38, Breslin 48, Gillespie 89) Carndonagh...1 (D Doherty 30) by Liam Porter, Inishowen Independent, at Cockhill COCKHILL Reserves came from a goal behind to notch up a comfortable win in this reserve league shield clash in Cockhill on Sunday morning, a late goal from Mark Gillespie putting a slight gloss on the scoreline, but Carndonagh can have no arguments with the overall result. Both sides had long spells of possession at various times in the game, but it was Cockhill who were more dangerous in front of goal and Carn keeper Padraig Doherty was certainly the busier of the two netminders. For a long time in the early part of the game however it was hard to see where either side would create work for the keepers. Cockhill had the best of the early possession, but wayward shooting meant that they failed to cause any moments of concern for the Carn defence who looked comfortable in the early stages. Not that it was any different at the other end and for the first twenty five minutes neither of the keepers had a shot in anger to deal with. |
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And then it all changed. A
strong run down the right saw Carndonagh’s Dermot
Doherty carve his way through the Cockhill defence in
the 30th minute and nick a lovely shot past the
advancing Stephen Porter. His effort was worthy of a goal, but it came off the post and on another day might have fallen differently, but Doherty’s hard work was rewarded when the rebound came back into his path and he slotted into the empty net to give the visitors the lead. It was a shock to the home side who had the best of the play in that opening half hour, prompted by some excellent midfield play from Aaron McLaughlin who looked neat on the ball throughout. Unable to press forward and add to their lead, Carndonagh instead found themselves pressed back again and eight minutes after they had taken the lead, they were back |
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on level terms. A good strike from Mark Gillespie brought a smart save from Padraig Doherty, but when the loose ball fell to Mak Donaghey, he quickly dispatched it to the net to level the game. Donaghey was to prove a thorn in the side of the the Carn defence in the second half, helping the home side carve out a couple of excellent opportunities. By and large though those chances were carved out on the break, and having conceded most of the possession in the first half, Carn had the bulk of the possession in the second, but failed to make the best of it. Indeed the Cockhill defence, especially central pairing Barry Donaghey and Gary Breslin looked comfortable with anything the visitors could throw at them, and the home side were only under threat from the odd high ball thrown under the crossbar to make Stephen Porter earn his corn. And those threats, few as they were, came in an effort to claw Carndonagh back into the game after Cockhill had turned the match around within three minutes of the re-start. An excellent one-two saw Donaghey send Eddie Cuffe clear on goal, but as the striker got set to shoot he was denied by a marvellous tackle from Carndonagh’s Kevin Kelly. From the resulting corner though Cockhill nosed in front, centre half Gary Breslin popping up in the box to power in a header to make the score 2-1 in the 48th minute. After that Cockhill were quite content to soak up the pressure and hit on the break and they almost added to their advantage in the 68th minute when Donaghey again sent Cuffe away but he saw his shot brilliantly saved by Doherty. A string of second half substitutions interrupted the flow of the second half, but Cockhill finally wrapped up a good win in the 89th minute thanks to a substitute’s good work. Gordon Duncan’s good strike brought a fine save again from Doherty, but once again there was no Carn defender on hand to clear the danger and the loose ball fell to Mark Gillespie who hammered home from close range to seal the win for the home team. Cockhill: Stephen Porter, Kevin McClean, Shaun McDaid, Barry Donaghey, Gary Breslin, Jason Lyons, Aaron McLaughlin, Kevin McDaid, Eddie Cuffe, Mark Donaghey, Mark Gillespie. (Peter Green for Cuffe 76 mins; Gordon Duncan for McDaid 84 mins; Brian King for Lyons 64 mins). Carndonagh: Padraig Doherty, Tiernan Coyne, Kevin Kelly, Paul Canny, Fergal Doherty, Patrick McGuinness, Shane Doherty, James McDaid, John McCluskey, Dermot Doherty, Ryan O’Donnell. Subs: Sean Doherty and Paul McLaughlin for James McDaid and John McCluskey 54 mins; Shane O’Donnell for Ryan O’Donnell 64 mins). For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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