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| Killymoon Rangers |
1 |
| Carrick Rangers |
3 |
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| Despite losing this Irish Cup tie, Killymoon Rangers can be proud of their performance against their Premier League opponents at the Mid Ulster Sports Arena last Saturday. |
| Carrick Rangers had the first effort on goal as early as the
second minute but Owen's header was easily gathered by
Michael Brown in the Killymoon goal. In the sixth minute
Killymoon forced a corner after Kevin Kelly's shot was
deflected off a defender. From this corner Gareth McGaw shot
just wide. Carrick then upped the pace and forced a
succession of corners before they opened the scoring in the
sixteenth minute. Killymoon had at least three opportunities
to clear the ball as it pin-balled around their penalty box
before Paul McDowell forced the ball home from close range.
Any thoughts that the visitors may of had that this would be
the start of a landslide victory were quickly dispelled as
Killymoon produced a spirited fightback culminating in
Warren Smith's equalising goal after twenty-five minutes.
Good passing from the home side left Smith in space
twenty-five yards from goal and he fired home, although
Carrick's keeper, Declan Brown, will be disappointed with
his attempted save. Minutes later the striker was called
into action at the other end when he combined with Johnny
Young to produce a goal line clearance that prevented a
certain goal. Killymoon almost took the lead on the half
hour mark but Brown saved brilliantly from David McMullan's
header. But in the fortieth minute disaster struck for the
Cookstown side as they attempted to play the ball out from
the back. A misdirected pass from crowd favourite McGaw
presented Anto Lagan with the ball and he had an easy
opporunity to stroke the ball past a helpless Brown. Carrick
almost repeated this feat when their keeper had to race out
of his box to clear as Gary Crooks tried to pick up on a
loose back-pass. Just when it seemed that Killymoon had
weathered the storm they again shot themselves in the foot
to present Carrick with a third goal. Smith was too easily
beaten to a header on the edge of the box and Lagan was able
to volley an unstoppable effort into the to corner of the
net.
Half Time score- Killymoon Rangers 1 Carrick Rangers 3 |
| Killymoon Manager, Brian Megarry, replaced McGaw with Jason
Ferry at half time and pushed Young into a more advanced
popsition hoping that his creativity could inspire a second
half fight-back. However, it was the visitors who used their
Premier League know-how to restrict Killymoon's possession
and ensure that there would be no upset as they dominated
most of the half. Michael Brown produced several top class
saves to ensure that the home side would not be embarrassed.
Killymoon's defence were put under extreme pressure at times
as Paul McDowell produced a virtuoso performance of forward
play. Killymoon's players continued to work hard all over
the pitch but just couldnt find a goal that would have
produced a grandstand finish for the large home support to
enjoy. |
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Despite defeat, Killymoon can hold their heads high as they
competed with their higher ranked opposition for the full
ninety minutes and were never outclassed. If they can
maintain this level of commitment for the remainder of the
season and freshen the squad with a few new faces they will
be able to start to climb the Championship 2 table. |
| Killymoon Rangers: Micheal Brown, John Scott, Johnny Young, Stephen McElhatton,
David McMullan, Gary Crooks, Daryl Shannon, Gareth McGaw,
William Montgomery, Warren Smith, Kevin Kelly. Subs- Cameron
Stewart, Craig Martin, Jason Ferry, Conal Kilpatrick. |
| Carrick Rangers:
Declan Brown, Ian West, Liam Hogan, Davy McAlinden, Kyle
Owens, Marcus Kane, Ryan Deans, Grant Hutchinson, Chris
Murray, Anto Lagan, Paul McDowell. Subs- Stephen Brennan,
Glenn Taggart, Andrew Smith, Jonathan Addes, David Bell |
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