Drumaness Mills faced a determined Immaculata side but kept their discipline to pull off a 2-0 win
Clearer Water Irish Cup Round 2,
Venue: Meadowvale Pitch, Drumaness,
Final Score: Drumaness Mills 2 0 Immaculata.
As the season got underway, The Mills faced a significant challenge in round 2 of the Irish Cup against Immaculata. The have brought in a couple of new players after prolific goalscorers Jack Sharvin returned to Killyleagh and Calum Dougan went off to Lisburn in the transfer window.
The new team looks impressive, and they proved their worth on Saturday against stiff opposition. Drumaness were pressing early and opportunities began to open up and Adam Kearney was making some excellent breaks on the left wing.
But the game levelled off and it became a toe-to-toe encounter with both teams racing up and down the pitch.
On 33 minutes Adam Kearney had a great run into the Immaculata box, flanked by defenders and just lost possession when he was in striking distance.
It was Drumaness who managed to turn their efforts in a goal in the 41st minute when after a period of pressing Immaculata, Tom McNeill hit the ball to the goal but it came off a defender and ended up in the net giving Drumaness a valuable boost just before half-time.
As the second half continued, the game got very competitive and physical with a number of stoppages and challenges to the referees decisions, but Drumaness kept their discipline well.
A corner resulting from a move by Eoin Rooney saw McNeill head over the bar. Immaculata were pressing continuously and Daniel Smyth too headed one effort over the bar. The match was on a knife edge.
Declan Looney had been making excellent runs assisted by Adam Kearney but he picked up an injury. But not before he scored Drumaness’ second goal on the 85th minute which sealed the win for the home side. Looney then came off after having received quite a few heavy tackles.
Immaculata tried to close the gap in the dying embers of the game but captain Gary Murdoch made an important save from a shot by Immaculata’s Brian McCaul from the middle of the box from a corner.
But on a day with a blustery wind, that was that was the last real fling by the visitors. Drumaness’ Eoin Rooney made a good run to the Immaculata box just before the final whistle, but his shot flew over the bar.
As Immaculata pressed to the last, the Drumaness back line made several timely tackles keeping the scoreline at 2-0.
This was a good performance by the Drumaness Mills side against Immaculata who certainly came to win.
Drumaness Mills: 1 Conan Russell (GK) 2 Thomas Mcneill 3 Keegan Domican 4 Sean Paul Holland 5 Gary Murdoch (C) 6 Ryan Milligan 7 Adam Kearney 8 Aaron Mooney 9 Eoin Rooney 10 Declan Looney 11 Sean Og Gallagher. Subs: 12 Rory McQuoid 14 Stefan Vicente 15 Tajus Ramanauskas.
Immaculata: 1 Gerard Smyth (GK) 3 Aaron Smyth 4 Stephen Morelli 5 Brian McCaul 6 James Haughey (C) 7 Ben McCaul 8 Joshua Green 9 Daniel Smyth 10 Ronan Hamil 11 Padraig Adams 19 Aoifen McBrearty. Subs: 2 Gary McVicker 15 Paul Lenaghan 16 Padraig McVicker 17 Emmet Fallon 18 Mark Sloan.
