Drumaness V Dunmurry Rec - Dec 09
Team – KERR, MCERLEANE, MCDONNELL, FENTON, MCMULLAN, TUMILTY, NAPIER, HEWITT, CORR, ANSLEY, MCLARNON Subs- RUTHERFORD, WALSH, LARKIN
Dunmurry Rec travelled to Drumaness hoping to close the gap at the top of the league. Kenny Camlin & Paul Redpath were with the Reserves while Ricky Rutherford was only fit enough for a place on the bench.
It was Drumaness who clearly started the better team as they went at the Rec from the off with the Rec defence looking shaky. 10th min Goal for Drumaness – ball not cleared by defenders, loose ball falls to Drumaness attacker on the edge of the 18yard line, a sweet finish as the ball flies past the diving Kerr into the corner of the net. 15th min- A looping shot by John Ansley goes wide of the right hand post. 19th min Tumilty robs opponent 25yds out, lays ball to Neil Corr who squares past the keeper for Ansley who when ready to score from 8 yards saw his shot blocked by a defender. 33rd min Quick throw to Corr, his cross is met by Hewitt who header glances over bar. 36th min poor pass by Sean sees an attack on the Rec goal – keeper Kerr palms away only for a Drumaness forward to shoot, shot is blocked by Fenton when a goal seemed certain. 39th min Shot by McMullan test the Drunmaess keeper from 30 yards. 44th Min - Kerr again makes another important save
HT Dun Rec 0-1 Drumaness
1st min Break down left hand side – deep cross to back post sees a Drumaness forward rattle the Rec bar from 3 yards – Fenton again clears the danger. 8th Min – Sub Walsh for Dee McLarnon. 12th min Corr bursts through the middle and shoots – keeper palms away for a corner. The Rec dominating the game with excellent passing but were finding it difficult to create any clear cut chances. 27th min – Disaster as Drumaness go 2-0 up. Hewitt gave the ball away in midfield, Fenton put in a token challenge outside the box, McMullan’s subsequent challenge was not strong enough and seconds later the ball is in the back of the net. Soft goal. 28th min Sub Ricky Rutherford for John Ansley. The introduction of Rutherford sparked the Rec and in truth they could have won the game easily in the last 20 mins if they had taken their chances. 32nd min – Rutherford half chance from deep cross by Sean. 34th min – Walsh hits bar from another Sean cross. 36th min claims for penalty after Walsh brought down from behind in the box when 1-1 with the keeper. 37th min – Drumaness had a great chance to finish the match when they broke down the left and were 2-1 with the last defender but the pass was cut out by McDonnell. 38th min another penalty claim this time from Tumulty is tackled from behind and sent sprawling. 40th min – Corr gets to the bye line and with players cueing at the back post for a cross he chooses to cut back inside the defender and loses possession. 44th min – Penalty is awarded when Hewitt is clearly upended …up steps Ricky Rutherford but his shot is well saved by the Drumaness Keeper. 47th Min Rec Goal – Corr slots home after great work by Rutherford
FULL TIME REC 1-2 DRUMANESS
MANAGERS COMMENTS
This match was massive for us and bottom line is we failed to deliver. I was well aware that with all the players they had back, the Drumaness team today would be nothing like the team that has played for them so far this season. There were positives from today, especially the way we passed the ball so well and dominated possession for large parts of the game, but it counts for nothing if you don’t take points. Credit to Drumaness as the way they played with a 3-4-3 system meant that when they got in front they effectively played like a 5-4-1 as there wide men were playing like full backs, which was very very difficult to break down. We were patient in the build up but lacked any real cutting edge up front. Drumaness played with hunger, passion and fought for everything and were a credit to their management team. In truth the big difference in the teams today was the centre backs. I thought Burns and Ward were outstanding for them, dominant in the air, strong in the tackle and aggressive … everything that our 2 centre backs were not.
I cannot fault the attitude of my players but at the end of the day the league is about points and we really should have got some from today’s game and that is disappointing. Next Saturday we are away to Ards Rangers in what is now a must win game.
