Loughmacrory claim derby spoils over Carmen

Loughmacrory 1-11 Carrickmore 0-13

THAT was it, surely. The impressive Tiarnan Murray steered over a superb equaliser for Carrickmore in the 62nd minute of an engrossing Division One derby contest on Wednesday night against their beloved neighbours Loughmacrory, and we were all set to shake hands on a draw.

Loughmacrory had other ideas. From the resulting restart, goalkeeper Oisin O’Kane boomed an 80-yard kick-out down the throat of Dara Curran, bypassing near enough every player on the pitch, Dara shipped the ball through to Eoin McElholm (the sensible option, you might say) and McElholm did the rest, flicking the ball over the bar from an acute enough angle and with two Carrickmore defenders hot on his tail.

The Loughmacrory supporters collectively exhaled one almighty cheer and understandably so – that had to be the winning point, thus marking their first ever victory at adult level on their home patch against the men from two miles up the road.

There was room for one more moment of drama, however. There was roughly a minute left on the clock and Carrickmore threw the kitchen sink at conjuring up another equaliser, eventually winning a free after applying immense pressure on the Loughmacrory defence. Danny Fullerton was handed the opportunity but it was a seriously difficult kick – way out on the wing on a blustery, rapidly darkening evening – and his commendable effort clipped the post and went wide. It was a big ask to convert that one, even for a man of Fullerton’s undoubted ability.

Seconds later Mark ‘Sparky’ Loughran blew the whistle on a thoroughly entertaining game last Wednesday evening. Loughmacrory had done the business but really, this one could’ve gone either way. And yes, bragging rights were at stake but there was also the matter of two league points and victory ensured St Teresa’s won’t have to worry about relegation play-offs in the not-too-distant future.

Recent history suggested that this latest installment of the Loughmacrory-Carrickmore rivalry would go right down to the wire so there were no big surprises on the night in that sense.

The opening exchanges were certainly very even, though Loughmacrory did open up some daylight – at least for a brief spell – when Ruairi McCullagh, in his first year of adult football, picked his spot after a beautiful ball from Cathal Donaghy.

That opened up a 1-2 to 0-2 lead, but not long after McCullagh found himself black carded and Carrickmore enjoyed a productive period in front of the posts with good scores from corner-back Oisin McElroy and Tiarnan Murray.

Loughmacrory settled themselves again with Aodhan Donaghy a superb outlet in the middle sector, and scores from Eoin Donaghy and McElholm helped ensure they led by 1-4 to 0-6 at the interval.

The home side started the second-half in blistering fashion with points from Eoin Donaghy and Gareth Donaghy (yep, another Donaghy – there were four brothers on the starting line-up) but Carrickmore found their groove with four points in a ten minute spell, their intense attacking style yielding dividends on the scoreboard with Danny Fullerton, who battled it out in a most enjoyable duel with Nathan Kelly, coming into his own in the closing stages.

They led by 0-11 to 1-7 with just over ten minutes remaining and they looked the more likely to prevail, but Loughmacrory weren’t done yet. Cathal Donaghy stepped up to the plate big-time in the closing stages, showing serious leadership with his driving runs into the heart of the Carrickmore defence and the scores started flowingagain, including a monster effort from Pauraic Meenagh.

Loughmacrory had edged their noses in front but it wasn’t over yet and Carrickmore d rew level through Tiarnan Murray after a superb fetch from Lorcan McBride in the middle. It looked like a draw was on the cards, but McElholm popped up with the winning score. Carrickmore had one last chance of a reprieve and while it wasn’t to be, they too played their part in a riveting contest.

THE SCORERS
Loughmacrory
Ruairi McCullagh (1-3, 2f, 1m), Eoin McElholm (0-3), Pauraic Meenagh (0-2, 1f), Cathal, Gareth and Eoin Donaghy (0-1 each)

Carrickmore
Daniel Fullerton (0-4, 2f), Ciaran Daly and Tiarnan Murray (0-2 each), Sean Loughran, Oisin McElroy, Rory Loughran, Cormac Munroe and James Donaghy (0-1 each)