Owen Roes Rip-Up Championship 

Form Guide

WJ Dolan Junior Championship First Round

Errigal Ciaran 1-8 Owen Roes 1-10

With a pre game record of eleven straight league defeats, and only one Championship victory in 12 years, few gave Owen Roes senior footballers much chance of causing an upset in Carrickmore on Friday night, as they faced Errigal Ciaran IIIs. Nonetheless after sixty minutes of jangling nerves it was the Leckpatrick side that showed great courage to emerge victors by two points.

Errigal almost got off to the perfect start as Dylan Early was called into action after barely 30 seconds of the contest. Errigal’s forward looked like he was lining up a point, but instead elected to drive for goal where Early tipped onto the bar and safety.

It was the Green and Reds who troubled the scorers first though as midfielder Marcus McGinley spit the posts from distance in the third minute. Two minutes later and Stephen Dooher doubled the advantage following good work from Declan McCrossan.

Errigal though struck back to level up before the end of the opening quarter. Firstly the ex Tyrone minor Rory McCann turned and scored despite pressure from Paul Kelly, and then over elaboration in the Leckpatrick rearguard saw Michael Harte level up.

Errigal almost ended the quarter with a major but Early stood up well to block Dara Tierney’s drive. Owen Roes lived dangerously during this period and were relieved to see Errigal strike the vertical posts twice.

The game then entered a scrappy period with both sides guilty of missing chances. Owen Roes squandered several wides, with Errigal electing to leave their hard work short of goal.

With half time approaching though the game was about to have one of it’s major turning points. Stephen Boyle found himself in front of goal, but was dispossessed as the ball broke to Kiernan Kelly who miss-hit off balance. However Boyle made no mistake at the second attempt and blasted past Niall Quinn in goals.

Buoyed by this Owen Roes ended the half with their tails up. Good work by the excellent Brendan McCrossan, interchanging with Declan McCrossan, allowed Dooher to grab his second point of the contest. The half ended with Owen Roes 1-4 to 0-2 to the good as Declan McCrossan dispatched a neat free kick.

Owen Roes were under no illusion that the second period would see a more determined Errigal Ciaran outfit emerge, and so it proved.

Harte got them out of the blocks with an early free, before the White jerseys struck a well worked major. Neat interplay in and around the box left the O’Neills defenders exposed, and Noel Devine punched home at the back stick with the help of the underside of the cross bar.

Harte’s accurate placed ball one minute later meant that Owen Roes half time advantage had evaporated within four minutes of the second half beginning.

Declan McCrossan’s free kick put the Leckpatrick side in front once again, but Errigal struck back to level via McCann. When Declan Quinn punished poor Owen Roes defending a minute later to point it looked the Errigal machine was clicking into gear.

Errigal held this lead for a period of time, before an additional key moment in the game with six minutes remaining. A tangle of bodies in the Owen Roes goalmouth saw the outstretched hands of whistler Eugene Hughes, and an Errigal penalty. However Early in goal guessed right, and denied the taker what would’ve probably been a game winning major.

With spirits amplified Owen Roes went back up field and Chris Kelly shot them level once again. McCann restored Errigal’s advantage almost straight away and in turn posed a huge question for Owen Roe’s mental conviction.

The questions were soon to be answered though. Firstly Declan McCrossan got felled when through on goal allowing Kiernan Kelly a routine, equalising score from a dead ball.

Kelly was heavily involved again minutes later, as his dogged run allowed sub Conor McCay the chance to dissect the posts. With the game now well and truly at boiling point, Aidan McCrossan showed real coolness to side step and strike over the bar with the outside of the boot as Owen Roes started to sniff the unfamiliar scent of victory.

As the game entered injury time sub Barry Porter sent over from under the shadow of the famous Nally stand to leave a goal in it. However there was still drama to be had, as Errigal’s sub pulled a score back. Finally with the referee poised to blow the whistle Errigal had one last shot at goal that drifted just wide of goal by a whisker.

That was the last action of the tie to the relief of an overjoyed Owen Roes bench. In a season laced with many downs this performance- although far from perfect- was a very brave display by the Leckpatrick side. The stout-hearted Kevin Doherty, Brendan McCrossan, and Marcus McGinley were the pick of many fine individual displays from Gerard Porter’s men who now await the quarterfinal draw.

Owen Roes: Dylan Early, Paul Kelly, Kevin Doherty, Brendan McCrossan, Gerard Devine, Cathal Dooher, Ryan Stewart, Marcus McGinley (0-1), Chris Kelly (0-1), Kevin O’Donnell, Stephen Dooher (0-2), Kiernan Kelly (0-1), Declan McCrossan (0-2), Stephen Boyle (1-0), Aidan McCrossan (0-1). Subs: Willie Doherty for Paul Kelly (40 mins), Barry Porter (0-1) for Stephen Boyle (40 mins), Conor McCay (0-1) for Stephen Dooher (49 mins), Clarke Stephenson for Chris Kelly (58 mins).

Errigal Ciaran IIIs: Niall Quinn, Seamus Mallon, Eamon McRory, Conor McGarvey, Joe Lynch, Ryan Colhoun, James Harte, Dara McCullough, Noel Devine, Declan Quinn, Dara Tierney, Niall McCartan Michael Harte, Stephen Quinn, Rory McCann.