Downpatrick Hold Dromara To A Draw

Dromara  2   Downpatrick  2 DOWNPATRICK made a strong show against Dromara and dominated much of the play but only succeeded in collecting a valuable point which will at least help in their struggle to get up off the bottom of the table. The first chance for Downpatrick came when Christiian Holland crossed from the left wing to Barry Tracey who snatched at the shot which went wide. Dromara responded brilliamntly by racing upfield and opening the scoring in the 6th minute with a Johnny Jess drilling the ball from 10 yards out. But Downpatrick fought back and a Tracey corner went to the head of John Glennon who rattled the ball well into the Dromara net. Downpatrick began to dominate the play and showed a number of excellent  short ball plays on a pitch that was in excellent trim. Holland and Tracy were combining well to give the Dromara defence a few headaches. Andy Telford almost put his side into the lead when at 30 minutes Dromara keeper Preece had to make a cricial block. The ball broke to Tracy on th eedge of the box but he fired over the bar. As the game approached the end of the first period, Downpatrick were dominating play but goal scoring opportunities were very scarce. Jess made a terific volley at  the Downpatrick goal to be denied when it hit the crossbar after deflecting off a defender. But just on the half-time whistle, Declan O’ Connor beat the offside trap to skip past keeper McCallister  and planted the ball into the Downpatrick net giving the homeside Dromara a decisive advantage midway. [caption id="attachment_16027" align="alignleft" width="400" caption="Andy Telford kept the pressure up on Dromara. "][/caption] As the game restarted, Andy Telford blasted over from the edge of the 10 yard box from a reverse pass by Barry Tracey… a missed opportunity to redress the balance. Andy Telford continued his attacking moves when he outpaced the Dromara defence in the 59th minute sending the ball over the bar. In the 59th minute John Connolly replaced John Glennon, and almost straight away his impact was felt when he made a tremendous volley from 25 yards. Dromara came back into play when O’Connor forced McCallister to make an excellent save. But th eDownpatriock pressure on Dromara finally cracked the home side and Connolly while making an attack was felled by defender McDonagh and Peter Telford nailed the ball into the Dromara net from the spot with 18 minutes left to play. In the 76th munute Dromara substitute Seamus McDowell almost put his team into the lead when he dribbled past a number of Downpatrick defenders and got behind keeper McCallsier but his shot went just a fraction wide of the post. Both teams struggled for that elusive winner… in vain. Downpatrick went home with a point against the Border Cup winners Dromara, a fair achievement in itself. Dromara: Ross Preece, Brendan Agnew, Pjames McDonagh, Paul Johnston, Manus O’Gorman, Graham McDonagh, Kevin Johnston, Brendan McNamee, Declan O’Connor, Johnny Jess, Aaron Thompson, Paul Close. Gerry Doherty, Seamus McDowell. Downpatrick:  Mal McAllister, Barry Fitzsimons, Blaine Connolly, Ian Kearney, Peter Turley, Jim McStravick. Barry Tracey, Peter Telford, John GHlennon, Andy Telford, Christain Holland, Owen Curran, Stephen Galbraith, John Connolly.]]>