Bredagh 3rds beat by strong Loughinisland team

Bredagh 3rds came up against a formidable Loughinisland team on Saturday evening. In almost perfect weather conditions, the 13-a-side arrangement suited the visitors better with their strong runners through the middle. Despite the Loughinisland opening period dominance, Bredagh had their chances and only for good goalkeeping from the Loughinisland no. 1 it would have been more even on the scoreboard at the interval.

Loughinisland raced into a 1-04 lead before Bredagh won a penalty which was duly converted by Conor Owens, keeping the home team in touch. Loughinisland showed more composure in front of the posts and made more of their chances. A second goal from a long range effort by Ben Scullion was touched into the net by Conor Owens. Conall O’Rawe kicked over a nice point to leave the half-time score at Loughinisland 3-08 Bredagh 2-01.

The 2nd half saw a much better performance by the Bredagh team, with fresh legs adding to the home team’s push as Loughinisland energy levels waned to some extent. Superb defending by Ray Gormley, Fergus Coyle and John Mulholland saw a number of impressive turn-overs. Bredagh pushed forward in search of scores and took better decisions up front as the game progressed. In a more evenly contested half, both teams scored 1-06 with the Bredagh scores coming from Conor Kelly (1-01), Nicky McCafferty (0-2), Ben Scullion (0-1), Dermot Dillon (0-1) and Jimmy Devlin (0-1). Loughinisland held onto their first half lead through good goalkeeping and good defending, the Bredagh lads just couldn’t find sufficient creativity up front to outwit their experienced rivals. However, a big effort by all Bredagh players through to the final whistle and the lessons learned in this game will be invaluable going forward.

Squad: Liam Francis, Fergus Coyle, John Mulholland, Gerard Mullin, Martin Cullen, Niall Colton, Dermot Dillon, Ray Gormley, Marc Robinson, Ben Scullion, Conor Kelly, Conal O’Rawe, Jamie McCarten, Conor Owens, Conor O’Keefe, Jimmy Devlin, Niall Kennedy, Conor Loughran, Nicky McCafferty