Rossglass County fade in second half to let Ballynagross romp home
The Newcastle and District Amateur Football League,
Premier League Match,
At Mountain Quarter, on Saturday 4th November 2023,
Ballynagross FC 8 2 Rossglass County FC.
Rossglass travelled to Mountain Quarter for this league encounter and
for the opening half hour took the game to Ballynagross writes Cyril McKinney.
They went ahead on 13 minutes through a fantastic Ryan Kearney free kick 25 yards from goal which flew in to the keeper’s right hand top corner despite the best efforts from Taggart in the home nets.
Ballynagross made their best efforts but could not break down the Rossglass rear guard and it took a bit of good fortune for Ballynagross to draw level.
Joseph Burns drilled a shot goalwards on 30 minutes which took a cruel deflection and wrong-footed Hamilton in the Rossglass nets and the ball nestled in the back of the net.
Three minutes later things went from bad to worse for Rossglass when a speculative shot from distance by Declan McComiskey.
The ball ended up in the Rossglass net as keeper Hamiliton appeared to get his
angles all wrong and could only watch the it hit the back of the net.
Hamilton made amends on 40 minutes with a great save from McComiskey
at close range at the expense of a corner to leave it 2-1 to Ballynagross at half-time.
Into the second half, Ballynagross came out on the front foot and
Rossglass seemed to lose the hunger and fight they had in the first
half.
An unmarked Christopher Laverty headed home from close range from
a right wing free kick on 55 minutes and on 59 minutes Daniel Taggart
fired home a loose ball inside the box to make it 4-1.
By now the game appeared over as a contest but the scoring kept coming including a spectacular left foot volley from distance from Cormac McLaughlin to
give Rossglass some hope on 64 minutes.
Connor Marron made it 5-2 for the home side from the penalty spot after Harney was upended in the box on 70minutes.
It was 6-2 on 76 minutes when after a surging run by Harney, he set up
Laverty who slotted home his second of the afternoon.
Two minutes later right back Savage drilled home a fine shot beating Hamilton at his near post before wing wizard Harney got on the scoresheet to make it 8-2 on 85 minutes.
It could have been 9 -2 on 89 minutes when Harney was upended in the box but Christopher Laverty blazed over the bar as he looked for his hat-trick.
Rossglass were glad to hear the final whistle on an afternoon that started so well and ended so badly as they lost their way in the second half.
Ballynagross FC: Kieran Taggart, Tom Savage, Christopher Laverty, Corey Davis, Conor Campbell, Connor Marron, John Shields, Joseph Burns, Aodhan Harney, Daniel Taggart, Declan McComiskey. Subs: Aidan McNeill for Declan McComiskey , Ciaran McGrady for Daniel Taggart.
Rossglass County: Christopher Hamilton, Nathan McGarry, Conor Watterson, Ryan Lennon, Barry Mageean, Joseph Farrand, Cormac McLaughlin, Ciaran Morrison, Eamon Vaughan, James Cusack, Ryan Kearney. Subs: Gavin Grant for Eamon Vaughan, Paul McGarry for Joseph Farrand, Wayne Clark for Ryan Kearney.
