Drumaness Mills bowed out of the Clarence Mayes Cup Round 5 losing narrowly to Comber Rec
The NAFL,
Clarence Mayes Cup Round 5,
Venue: Park Way, on 8 2 25,
Comber Rec 2 1 Drumaness Mills.
Comber Rec were fortunate to survive this Round 3 draw in the Clarence Cup against Drumaness Mills in a match that was increasingly hard fought as the minutes ticked by with both teams were looking for a winning goal writes Jim Masson.
This clash was, as in previous head-to-heads, quite animated at times with hard tackles and tempers boiling over with referee decisions being challenged by both teams particularly in the second half as the match hung in the balance.
Both teams have enjoyed good form of late with Comber winning the Border Cup at Christmas and Drumaness holding their position mid-table in the NAFL Premier League.
So this was always going to be a hotly contested event and it lived up to expectations. On a good day both teams would have demonstrated their excellent soccer talents but that was somewhat clouded at times by the competitive backcloth between these rivals.
(Photos by Jim Masson/DownNews ©).
Lex Walker in an early attack caught Drumaness with their pants down. He received a cross from Dylan Wilson out on the right and first-timed the ball in the Drumaness box on 2 minutes giving the home side an early advantage.
Comber piled on the pressure on Drumaness hoping to break them. Tumilson made an excellent volley early on on target but it bounced off a defender for a corner.
But Drumaness were settling down and keeping in good shape, and Dougan received a long ball through from Sharvin and ran on being hounded by 2 defenders and almost got the ball past keeper Pollock for a goal.
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Then as Drumaness made a push Brannigan took a free kick to the head of Tumilson who nodded the ball down well at the goal but it bounced wrong side of the side post.
As Comber pressed with charges often led Elliot Wilson, the Drumaness back line were working in overtime as quite a few of the home side were capable of scoring when they got a chance.
But Comber stepped up the pressure once again and Watson cleared a crucial ball from the front of the Drumaness goal. Then in an attack Comber’s Irvine whacked a low volley inches wide of the right hand post on 20 minutes.
Then is a Drumaness break, Sharvin and Dougan found themselves just a few feet offside as they were set to backfoot the Comber back line.
And Dougan again stepping up attacks made a run at the goal under pressure from defender Irvine and found himself facing keeper Pollock who came out to close him down and his shot under pressure was just a fraction over the top bar.
On the right wing, Stefan Mason was harrying the Comber defenders who were holding out well.
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Comber captain Hanna had an excellent first half supporting his front line from mid field. On one occasion he managed a break but hit the ball over the bar.
Increasingly the referee’s decisions were being challenged as both sides got frustrated at not getting a clear goal advantage.
Again Dougan made a break at the Comber goal and shot just wide of the post, always under pressure from Comber defenders. The visitors were struggling to get that silver bullet of an equaliser before the half-time whistle but try as they may, they were fresh out of luck.
Then a long ball to Comber’s Gibson again saw the ball headed to the wrong side of the post.
As the second half kicked off, Sharvin almost scored from a quick attack weaving into the box tempting for a penalty but eventually found the side net.
Comber then stepped up and started to create a few useful breaks and took more control of the game. As the frenzy built up, Comber won a free on the edge of the Drumaness box. Brannigan did a good job of clearing it.
In one attack Drumaness pressed forward and in a tackle on the right hand corner, Domican sped in and ended up crashing into a metal post receiving an injury and was replace by Mooney.
As the match recommenced, Stefan Mason stepped up his game for Drumaness on the right wing and was involved in a number of breaks but he more than often was challenged by formidable Comber defender Lex Walker.
On one occasion Mason rose for a header and the referee blew for a foul against him. Brannigan took the free kick sending it to the head of Dougan which almost paid off with a goal.
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Drumaness had opportunities. Sharvin crossed into the Comber box and Mason tried a first-timer but it went askew.
Then, finally, Sharvin managed to weave into the Comber box and was tripped. The referee pointed to the spot and Sharvin nailed the ball to inside the left hand post equalising in the 72nd minute. It was now game on at 1-1 !
Sub Kristopher Gaw was making some great breaks midfield for Comber and one strong volley from the edge of the box really tested Carberry’s reflexes.
But Drumaness pushed back and held Comber for 3 corners. Comber survived the pressure from Drumaness and broke forward. Captain Hanna was then taken down in the visitor’s box and the referee this time awarded Comber the penalty which was converted by sub Brandon Nelson putting the home side in the lead 2-1 with 88 minutes gone.
When the final whistle blew, the victors Comber Rec celebrated to the joy of their big fan base and will move on to Round 4 of the Clarence Mayes Cup.
Comber were marginally stronger overall, but that does not take away from the very plucky and unlucky performance by Drumaness Mills who should not need to hang their heads in shame after this encounter.
Comber held well as a team and congratulations to defender Christian Irvine for receiving the Comber Player of the Match Award.
It was a proud performance by the Mills. They are middling in the NAFL Premier League and still have plenty of great football under their belts this season to play.
For the visitors this was a hard lesson in ‘the beautiful game’. They came, the saw but they did not manage to conquer on this occasion. They did their best and were very unlucky not to have scored at least one more goal.
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Congratulations to Comber Rec. Onwards and upwards!
Comber Player of of the Match was their No 4, Christian Irvine.
Comber Rec: 1 Corey Pollock (GK) 2 Ciaran Gillian 3 Lex Walker 4 Christian Irvine 5 Reece Whittle 6 Matthew Gibson 7 Dylan Wilson 8 Simon Hanna (C) 9 Dylan Donaldson 10 Matthew Tumilson 11 Elliot Wilson. Subs: 12 Brandon Nelson, 14 Kristopher Gaw, 15 Stephen Fleck.
Drumaness Mills: 1 Aaron Carberry (GK) 2 Damien Turley 3 Sean Paul Holland 4 Thomas McConville 5 Gary Murdock (C) 6 Peter Brannigan 7 Stefan Mason 8 Keegan Domican 9 Callum Dougan 10 Jack Sharvin 11 Andrew Watson Subs: 14 Aaron Mooney 15 Adam Kearney 16 Eoin Murray.
