O'Neill's Poor Start Continues
Owen Roes 1-5 Castlederg 0-11
Owen Roes poor start to the 2008 ACL
season continued on Thursday night, as they went down to Castlederg in a
rearranged league game. Castlederg led from the second minute and never looked
in danger of not collecting both points.
That opening Castlederg point was
courtesy of a fine angled kick by the Derg full forward, and when Owen Roes
surrendered cheap possession a few minutes later Castlederg were two up. Brendan
Boggs opened the home side’s account after five minutes, but the visitors were
in the ascendancy.
A couple of more scores before the
ten minute marking saw the St.Eugene’s in control, and indeed they could’ve
done more damage after 11 minutes, but the visiting full forward could only find
the side netting after rounding Dylan Early in goal.
A mammoth free from the visitor’s
number nine made the lead four, before Aidan Lynch’s second score added to the
tally. A Boggs’ free condensed the gap, but injuries to Davy Harte and Brendan
McCrossan saw them replaced with a third of the game gone.
Twice in a minute Castlederg
should’ve added to their tally, but the O’Neills net minder Early made sharp
stops. Lynch turned and scored with time almost up, and when the Castlederg sub
fired the kick-out back over the sticks it looked like a comfortable half time
lead for the visitors.
However in first half stoppage time
Brendan Boggs’ free caused consternation in the Castlederg square, and Stephen
Boyle was on the spot to smash home to make the half time arrears just three
points.
It looked like it was going to be
Castlederg’s half again as they scored the opening point of the second half
after three minutes. However Owen Roes upped the tempo, and Cathal Dooher, and
Marcus McGinley started to pick up more possession with forays into the visitors
half.
Good defending by Gerard Devine
allowed Boggs through for another score, and when the same man replicated after
42 minutes it looked game on. However both sides started to struggle to turn
ball into scores, with this suiting the men from the Derg.
With three minutes to go, Castlederg
put a goal in it once more with a Lynch free, and when he added another via a
majestic left footed effort a minute later the game was up.
Stephen Dooher added a late point
for the O’Neills, but despite efforts to engineer a goal chance, it never
materialised.
Owen Roes: Dylan Early, Cathal
Dooher, Paul Kelly, Brendan McCrossan, Ryan Stewart, Marcus McGinley, Brendan
Boggs (0-4), Chris Kelly, Kevin Moore, Davy Harte, Kevin O’Neill, Stephen
Boyle (1-0), Willie Doherty, Barry Porter, Mark O’Neill. Subs: Gerard Devine
and Kevin O’Donnell for Harte and McCrossan (23 mins), Mickey Dooher for
Doherty (41 mins), Stephen Dooher (0-1) for Boyle (49 mins) and Ryan Logue for
Porter (56 mins)