Reserve Championship - St. Pauls Vs Kickhams
Creggan left their home village and headed towards the city over the mountain to face St Paul’s in the Reserve Football Championship Quarter final.
Creggan sitting top of Div 5 would face their opponents who are in the top half of Div 4 on a blustery cold and wet night, a night where classy football would be difficult to play! The referee sounded the whistle and the game was off, Creggan playing right to left. As the strong midfield of Creggan broke the ball St Paul’s were first to ground to gather the break ball resulting in a score from a high ball lobbed into the forward line and converted.
The slippery pitch proved difficult and again St Paul’s luckily collected a break ball eventually to score taking them into a two point lead after 6mins of play. Creggan off to a slow start conceded another point on the 7thth min leaving the score St Paul’s 0-3 Creggan 0-0 after ten minutes of play. The Creggan net minder Peter Graham collected the ball from the umpire and his huge kick seen Benny Devlin use his upper body strength to break the ball between two aggressive St Paul’s defenders. As Charlie Devlin collected big Joe Robb brushed pass his shoulder collecting a lightening sharp hand pass and bursting through the St Paul’s defence Robb guided the pass into the chest of Leigh Martin, a great run made by the energetic Eunan McAteer went unnoticed but a quick pass to the hard working Robb seen him put over a fantastic point with the outside of his right boot on the left flank.
Creggan had finally got out of the traps and the St Paul’s defence decided to take the stride out of the fiery Creggan team resulting in them being reduced to 14 men on the 9th min of play. Creggan on the attack once again failed to see the early run of the forwards leaving the St Paul’s defence to counter and taking their lead to 0-4 v 0-1.
On the 19min of play Creggan were to reduce the deficit from a well taken point from Leigh Martin who shook of his defender after been man handled for a few minutes off the ball. The strong hands of Olly Duffin and great support play from Benny Devlin saw Creggan on the attack once again, Devlin creating space for the incoming Mc Ateer resulted in a 45 as the tricky corner forwards effort was blocked over the end line.
Leigh Martin who has a great dead ball kick smartly chipped the ball to the in form mid-fielder and again with ease Robb brought Creggan within 1pt of the home side. 24mins of play gone, great accuracy from Leigh Martin seen him fire over a 35m free and Creggan were back on track. The hard work continued from Creggan with veteran Teddy Mc Keown putting in a lot of hard work along with Sam Maguire and Paul Russell.
St Paul’s were to take the lead after a harsh refereeing decision which ended in Leigh Martin seeing red. Playing into injury time Creggan were battling hard for another score and the good defending of Charlie Devlin and bite and determination from Cathal Shannon saw Creggan on the move again, Robb receiving the ball and delivering a cheeky pass resulted with an excellent Benny Devlin point from almost 40m out. Half Time arrived and the score was level with five points apiece.
As the second half got underway the Creggan manager decided to make a few changes, Ryan Mullan was replaced by Paddy McAuley, Eunan McAteer replaced by Cathal Small and Paul Russell replaced by Benny Maguire. St. Pauls were quick to take the lead with a close range point and again could have increased their lead only to see Sean Mc Lernon forcing the St Pauls forward to kick wide.
A great effort by substitute Paddy Mc McCauley brought Creggan level and at this stage of the game Creggan were looking the better side but two consecutive points seen St Pauls take the lead 0-8 v 0-6. Big Teddy McKeown made way for big Hugh McNulty and a great catch by the strong Joe Robb seen Devlin and Robb combine again, Devlin with the high ball and McNutly fisting over the bar. McAuley at the thick of the action again pointed for Creggan and the St. Pauls team were beginning to panic. The hard working Sam Maguire made way for Michael McCann with the score being 0-8 v 0-8. Creggan had their chances to increase their lead but the poor conditions lead to the ball going passed the wrong side of the posts.
For the man with a bad heart it was time to leave. Again Joe Robb catching magnificently in the middle of the park forwarded the ball to the strong and aggressive Duffin and Duffin slipping the ball to Aidan Maguire which resulted with a great pass to Benny Devlin. Devlin hand toe with his left foot turned his defender and calmly slotted the ball over the bar to take the spirited Creggan side into the lead for the first time in the 2008 Reserve Championship Quarter Final. The crowd took a step down the stand as the St. Pauls defence worked a short kick out up the field, a high ball in and a flick from the St Pauls forward almost found the net only to see the brave hand of the monster keeper Peter Graham deny St Pauls of a goal. 35mins played and Creggan thought to have the game wrapped up were to be completely shaken by a shocking decision by the referee who allowed a blatant push on the back of a Creggan defender go ahead which ended in a goal for the home side.
Creggan shell shocked carried on in the 9th min of added time and a tremendous effort on goal by Robb was blocked by the keeper’s foot, foot block? I would have thought so. Again Creggan tried in vain to overcome the 2pt deficit but it just wasn’t going to happen with 15 St Paul’s men defending the square with their lives. The final whistle sounded echoing around the concrete flats. It was just a night where nothing went right for Creggan but gut and determination for the rest of the year will see Creggan progress to the Div 5 title and revenge can be taken next year in Div 4.
Match Report was kindly supplied by Adrian Dougan, who I'm sure you will agree has done a fantastic job of scribing this match. Adrian also supplied the photos of the match which can be seen in the gallery section. Many thanks!
It would be great if more people took Adrian's lead and supplied match reports to keep the website interesting....it doesn't run itself you know.....
View Gallery