Gortin stave off battling Barrys

GORTIN 1-9  DERRYLAUGHAN 0-11

WHEN Gortin moved into a five-point lead heading into the final quarter on Friday night, you’d have been forgiven for thinking that Derrylaughan’s goose had been cooked.

A neatly converted spot-kick by Tyrone U20 star Odhran Brolly had prised open precious daylight between the two teams after a cagey firsthalf, and there was little to suggest that the momentum would swing back in Derrylaughan’s favour on the home straight, but that’s exactly what transpired on a rain-sodden evening in Gortin.

Sensing their nine lives were nearly up, the visitors from the Loughshore threw caution to the wind, driving forward in waves, tackling ferociously high up the pitch and slowly but surely inching their way back into the game.

In the end up, it wasn’t enough. They were granted a free deep into stoppage time roughly 55 metres from goal, but
Tomas Carney’s attempt dropped short and an opportunistic flick-on from a colleague drifted harmlessly wide of the posts.

Both teams had played their shirts off their backs but to the victors the spoils and Gortin had done what they had set out to do, maintaining their position at the summit of Division Two.

Talented youngsters Liam Og Mossey and Odhran Brolly were to the fore in Gortin’s most fruitful period of the game, an exceptional third quarter that saw them run into a 1-9 to 0-7 lead with 45 minutes on the clock.

Brolly dusted himself down having been fouled just inside the area to tuck away a penalty, but it was his subsequent
point that got the loudest cheer of the night, landing a brilliant score while off-balance and being chased down by the Derrylaughan defence.

But it was their more experienced heads that ultimately ensured Gortin held on in the face of a fairly frenzied
Derrylaughan comeback. Ruairi Keenan showed immense leadership in the closing stages, Peter Bradley was
exceptional at full-back, while goalkeeper Cathal McCullagh, not long back from a serious injury, kept his cool in the closing ten minutes under severe pressure from Derrylaughan, who had pushed nearly everyone forward.

For Derrylaughan, Brian Kennedy was unsurprisingly influential, but he was certainly made to work for everything
he got by Gortin duo Ruairi Keenan and Fiachra McNulty. Time after time the Derrylaughan goalkeeper pinged the ball in the direction of the 6’5fl Tyrone vice-captain, and he got his hands on plenty of ball but the Gortin midfield certainly didn’t shy away from the task at hand.

Gortin flew into a three-point lead after only five minutes on the clock with Cian McConnell, Darragh Ward and Sean Og McAleer landing early scores.

It proved something of a false down, however. Derrylaughan started to piece together some nice passages of play and could’ve rattled the net on two occasions in the opening quarter. They did chip over a couple of points to get
their account up and running (two frees from Tomas Carney) but trailed by 0-4 to 0-2 midway through the half.

Gortin were still playing some good football and the Brollys Odhran and Ciaran tagged on further scores, but on a few other occasions their attacks broke down and their 0-6 to 0-5 lead at the interval reflected that fact. So the game was very much there for the taking and it was Gortin who grasped the nettle early in the second half.

Liam Og Mossey came deep to find possession and his pace posed lots of problems for the Derrylaughan defence,
and their penalty goal in the 39th minute converted by Brolly was a just reward for their efforts.

By the 45th minute they led by 1-9 to 0-7 and it looked like there was only going to be one outcome, but Derrylaughan are renowned for their battling qualities and they adopted a much more attacking mindset than they’d
done previously (and frankly they had no other alternative at this stage).

Sub Liam Gervin cracked over two points in three minutes, both lovely efforts from distance, and it’s fair to say
that Gortin were under the cosh in the final ten minutes. Matthew Devlin – another sub – left only a point between the teams with 57 minutes on the clock so the game really hung in the balance as full-time approached.

Cool heads were required and Peter Keenan showed bravery to win an important late free with possession so, so
important for the leaders, but Derrylaughan were afforded one last opportunity when they won what amounted to a last-second free-kick far away from goal.

It was just about within range, but Carney’s effort dropped short and that was that, Gortin had come through a titanic tussle and maintain their position at the top of the table. Hats off to both teams on a fine game.

THE SCORERS
Gortin
Odhran Brolly (1-2), Sean Og McAleer (0-2, 0-1f, 0-1m), Liam Og Mossey (0-2f), Cian McConnell, Ciaran Brolly, Darragh Ward (0-1
each)
Derrylaughan
Tomas Carney (0-6f), Liam Gervin (0-2), Matthew Devlin, Colm O’Hagan and Ciaran Quinn (0-1 each)