ACFL Div. 5
26 July 2008
Kickhams Creggan 3-17
Dunloy 1-15
As the score line suggests this was a high scoring affair at Pairc í Ciceam on
Saturday evening which hopefully proved enjoyable to watch for the supporters
that turned up.
Up until close to the throw-in Creggan only had 13 players available to play for reasons that were out of Reserve Management’s control and potentially were very much detrimental to the teams continued quest to win this division. Enda Maguire who had a hurling final the following day was summoned and Clement McAteer had to play through the pain of an achillies injury to make up the numbers so a big thanks to them both for filling the breach.
The game got underway, with the home side putting their despondency behind them to open the scoring from the boot of Eunan McAteer. Further points followed from Benny Devlin, Michael McCann, Teddy McKeown, Cathal Shannon and Dominic Totten being among the scorers. In truth more goals should have been scored with Creggan cutting through the visitors defence on more than one occasion but failing to register the scores. The half time came as a relief to the players for a chance to get the water in to them on a hot and muggy evening.
HT – Kickhams Creggan 2-10, Dunloy 0-08
Clement McAteer was unable to resume the second have due to his injury so a request was made to the senior management team to allow one of the ungraded senior players to line out in the forward line so Creggan could play with the full complement of players. This request was flatly turned down and the intransigence of their position was both shocking and infuriating. The result was that one of the managers, Pip O’Kane, had to play the second half.
Dunloy immediately proceeded to eat in to the points deficit at the start of the second half by knocking over two points but Creggan were in no mood to surrender this game easily and hit back with a number of scores of their own including a goal from Danny Maguire. Dunloy however were awarded a penalty moments later which they dispatched past goalkeeper Daniel Bateson.
Points were traded for the remainder of the half with Dunloy opting to go for goals in a bid to salvage the game for them but the Creggan defence held firm and no major scores were conceded which is testament to the men at the back. The final whistle blew and the Division 5 side claimed another 2 valuable points and they remain unbeaten and top the table. Mention must go to young goalkeeper Daniel Bateson who showed just what a quality net minder he is by pulling off a couple of fantastic saves when called upon to do so. Well done Daniel.
Another aside to this match was the prowess in front of goal by player-manager Pip ‘Gooch’ O’Kane. Philip rolled back the years when he found himself presented with two score chances late in the match. The first a 14 yard free in front of the posts where the boul Pip found the new pitch with his shot! The second was a goal chance also right in front of the net, but Pip must have spotted a rat in the ditch or something cause that’s where he drive the ball to!
Kickhams Team – Daniel Bateson, Mickael Dougan, Sean McLarnon, Declan Smyth, Cathal Shannon, Dominic Totten, Enda Maguire, Teddy McKeown, Dan Maguire, Sam Maguire, Ryan Mullan, Michael McCann, Clement McAteer (Pip O’Kane), Benny Devlin, Eunan McAteer