Drumaness Mills Take Points In Home Victory Against Dromara Village
The NAFL,
Premier League Match,
Venue: Meadowvale on Saturday 13th January 2024,
Final Score: Dumaness Millas 4 1 Dromara Village
Jack Sharvin delivered the goods for Drumaness in this local derby league clash against Dromara Village with a hat-trick making it virtually impossible for the visitors to climb back into contention writes Jim Masson.
Dromara created early pressure on the Drumaness goal and on 6 minutes Stephen Kennedy tried a shot close in but it bounced off keeper Conor McGourty.
But Drumaness were quick to get on the scorecard when defender Thomas McConville headed in decisively in the sixth minute from close range.
Dromora fought back trying to equalise and Damien Turley headed the ball down in front of the Drumaness gaol for Philip Kerr but the shot went over the top bar.
Dromara were pressing strongly testing the Drumaness back line commanded by captain Gary Murdoch. A long pass to Stephen Kennedy saw him charge at the Drumaness goal and on a good day he would have scored but keeper McGourty was quick off his mark making a crucial intervention on the edge of his box.
The visitors then pressed again and won a corner. The ball was headed down to the feet of the Dromara players but was hit too quickly and the ball sailed over the bar.
Then James Mahoney attacked down the left and his shot too went over the bar off traget.
Then in a determined quick counter-attack, Drumaness defender Deegan took a shot and the ball came back out to Jack Sharvin who made no mistake lobbing it over keeper Connolly into the left hand corner of the net in the 25th minute.
Drumaness had to this point contained the pressures from the visitors and capitalised on their opportunities, whereas Dromara had several chances by were off target most of the time.
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The match went up a gear and became much more physical. Sharvin certainly upped his roll in the forward line attacking with venom and feeding in some great passes.
Both teams were pressing and the game saw a number of corners. At one stage Ben Martin made a strong run on the right by it took a positive challenge from skipper Murdock to neutralise the threat.
The game stopped and started with free kicks and eventually Keegan Domican picked up a yellow card.
Dromara were pressing hard to score to get back into contention, but the Drumaness back line were solid.
Then Adam Kearney on the left took down Alex Burtney and received a yellow card. Increasingly Drumaness were in danger of losing a player with two yellows.
Just on the whistle for half-time, Kearney broke loose and crossed to Sharvin in the Dromara goal area who side-footed the ball in to put Drumaness three goals in front.
The second half kicked off with Dromara winning an early corner. They were challenging the Drumaness goal area in the way the started in the first half.
Drumnaess countered again with Domican crossing to Eoin Murray who hit just wide. The lively match looked as though more goals were to come.
Sharvin was creating a lot of opportunities and on one occasion passed to Kearney near the Dromara back post who lashed just over the bar.
Then finally the Dromara pressure paid off and they pulled a goal back when Marcus Murphy nailed the ball to the Drumaness net close in in the 65th minute. There was just a breath of life left for Dromara still to play for.
However, that breath was quickly knocked out of Dromara as one minute later Sharvin completed his hat-trick from a pass back in the box putting Drumaness 3 goals ahead with 24 minutes plus injury time to play.
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Following this haitus, Kearney found space to shoot at the Dromara goal but the ball went straight to keeper John Connolly.
Sub Joe Healy put the ball through to Sharvin still itching for another goal but was unlucky on this occasion. But Kearney did get a shot in but again it was off target.
Then Dromara sub John Mahoney received an ankle injury and crippled off just after 5 minutes into the game.
When play resumed, a clinical move from McGivern to Healy to Sharvin almost worked but Sharvin hit over the bar.
Full credit to Dromara for not letting their heads drop. They battled to the last and games have been turned through steely determination in the past.
Drumaness were trying to finish the game off in style and Sharvin hooked a pass to Mahoney but keeper McGourty moved out sharply to clear it from his box.
Sharvin was a threat to the end when he was taken down by Jordan Clarke as he rushed towards a strike position into the visitor’s box.
The game ended with Jonathan Gregg picking up a yellow card as the game was heated at times and was a physical slog for the players stopping and starting.
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Both teams had several clear chances and the score line could have been somewhat different if they converted. Sharvin was deadly accurate most of the time, but the Dromara from line made heavy work of the match despite having opportunities to score.
Dromara are trailing at second bottom of the Premier League table whereas the steadier Drumaness squad are sitting mid-table well clear of relegation at this stage.
Drumaness Mills: 1 Conor McGourty GK 2 Rory Deegan 3 Keegan Domican 4 Thomas McConville 5 Gary Murdock C) 7 Eoin Murray 9 Eoin Rooney 10 Jack Sharvin 11 Adam Kearney 17 Peter Brannigan. Subs: 12 Aaron Ibinson 14 James McGivern, 15 Joe Healy.
Dromara Village: John Connolly GK 2 Nathan Hamilton 3 Alex Burtney 4 Damien Turley 5 Peter Turley 6 Jonathan. Gregg 8 Philip Kerr (C) 9 Marcus Murphy 10 Stephen Kennedy 11 James Mahoney 17 Ben Martin. Subs: 12 Jordan Clarke 14 Ben Hanna 15 John Mahoney.
