Dromara Village in good form as they beat Comber Rec in an NAFL Premier League clash
The NAFL,
Premier League Match,
Venue: Bellsbridge, 21st March 2026,
Final Score: Dromara Village 3 Comber Rec 1.
On paper this looked to be a closer match that it turned out to be but Comber didn’t take advantage of the goal opportunties that presented and they missed a few. Just a bad day at the office for the visitors writes Jim Masson.
Comber did press forward early and after 7 minutes won a penalty with the pressure they exerted. Dylan Wilson stepped up to the spot and slightly underhit the ball and keeper Oisin McStay got his hand to it as it travelled low to the left and blocked it.
Wilson then made a cross to Matthew Gibson whose shot hit the side net. And Kris Gaw managed to fire in a couple of shot at the Dromara goal but he was probably just to far from goal and McStay held them safely.
Minutes later Comber gave away a penalty as Dromara pressed forward and Brendan Tumilty made no mistake hitting the top right hand corner of the net giving keeper Corey Pollock no chance of saving it in the 10th minute.
Wilson then charged the goal again and this time McStay made three quick saves to keep the ball out of his net.
James Sofley got into the act too attacking the Dromara goal but the striker was fresh out of luck in this match.
Dromara’s Benjamin McKeown made an excellent clearance as Wilson attacked again.
The Dromara defence were playing well keeping the Comber attacks at bay. The game did get a bit physical and both Simon Hanna and Lex Walker were taken down as Comber tried to press forward.
Dylan Wilson wasn’t having a great day as one of his volleys went off target and this was followed by shots from Chris Murray and Elliot Wilson.
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Dromara were pressing forward too in this see-sawing match and at one stage as Comber pushed forward Dromara defender Jordan Clarke make an excellent clearance.
Some players got frustrated at the lack of goals given their constant efforts and tempers did get heated.
With just 4 minutes into the second half, Nathan Hamilton crossed to Callum Bradley who ran at the Comber goal, and Pollock came racing out to close him down. Bradley’s shot came off the keeper and he then tapped it into the goal to put Dromara 2 goals up.
Dromara made a couple of quick breaks and on one occasion James Costello volleyed on target at the Comber goal but the ball ricocheted off Pollock for a corner.
Dylan Donaldson replaced Kris Gaw and on 77 minutes to scored for Comber close in to the Dromara goal.
Dromara were resilient and bounced back and Bradley made a great drive but it was well held by keeper Pollock.
As the game progressed Comber seemed to be pressing more to find that equaliser and one move saw Dylan Wilson crossing to Chris Murray but his shot was well blocked. Wilson was constantly trying to weasel his way through the Dromara defence.
In one attack, Murray attempted an overhead kick from just inside the back of the Dromara box but it was just held by keeper McStay, a great creative effort all the same.
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Then Dylan Donaldson passed to James Sofley who tried to chip the ball over the keeper but just was inches on the wrong side of the post.
Then, on a break in the 85th minute, Bradley struck again with a long ball from the right beating keeper Pollock.
With 5 minutes to the 90 minutes left and a couple of minutes extra time, Comber had run out of runway. Dromara stepped up the pressure on the visitors ensuring they did not get a chance to steal a last minute goal and then nick an equaliser.
Dromara had brought a lot of energy to their game, and played well testing Comber out time after time.
In the past six games since the start of February, Dromara Village have come into form with 4 wins and 2 draws. However, it has been a different back end of the season for Comber Rec who have lost four, drawn one and won one in their last six matches.
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Dromara Village: 1 Oisin McStay (GK) 2 Jordan Clarke 3 Ben Hanna 4 Mark Burke 5 Benjamin McKeown 6 Desmond McCartan 7 Brendan Tumelty 8 Nathan Hamilton 9 James Costello 10 Kealan Morgan 11 Callum Bradley. Subs: 12 Matthew McCandless 14 Shay McGrattan 15 Gary Stranney.
Comber Rec: 1 Corey Pollock 2 Matthew Gibson 3 Brandon Nelson 4 Stuart Moore 5 Lex Walker 6 Kris Gaw 7 Dylan Wilson 8 Simon Hanna 9 James Sofley 10 Chris Murray 11 Elliot Wilson.Subs: 12 Dylan Donaldson 14 Sam Moore 15 Dylan Thompson.
