Desertmartin get first win of the season
Desertmartin
hosted Moneymore at Longfield on Monday evening for the "Martin's"
second league game of the season. Desertmartin arguably deserved to
win. Only for wayward shooting the game would have been wound up
halfway through the second half.
Desertmartin missed a sitter of a goal and several easily scorable frees,
but through guts and determination, won by the smallest of margins.
Monemore
opened the score in the second minute of the game with a point from
play and six minutes later added another. From the kick out the
"Martins" big midfielder Kelly plucked the ball from the air and found
Kevin Gormley who was hauled down thirty meters from goal. The
resultant free was pointed by Johnny Trainor.
Desertmartin then added another point from play from the boot of Jimmy
McElhinnon. Desertmartin were winning the aerial battle in mid-field thanks
to the pairing of towering Paul Kelly and the robust Danny Murray. These
pair were frustrating Moneymore and drawing some nice frees from their
domination of the mid-field.
Monymore's defence was leaking badly and Johnny Trainor cut through to put
Desertmartin in front on the twelth minute to lead by 0-03 to 0-02.
Moneymore had some good possession and scored their only goal of the game
after a strong run from their full forward opened up the Desertmartin
defence. Three minutes later they added another point to lead 1-03 to 0-03.
Patrick McCann was strong in defence and easily found Gormley who was dumped
on the turf from a clumsyMonemore challenge. This proved costly as Gormley
slotted the resultant free neatly between the posts. two minutes later
Johnny Trainor added another point.
On the twenty- sixth minute a high ball
fell behind the Moneymore and full-forward Eamon McBride despatched it to
the back of the net. Ryan Kidd was growing in confidence as the game
progressed. and non more evident when he scored a brilliant point in the
31st minute, receiving a tidy ball from mid-fielder Danny Murray. Moneymore
played some good football , but thanks chiefly to the defensive efforts of
Ruari Murray ,Paddy Kidd and Brian McElhinnon they found scores difficult to
come by.
Half-time score Desertmartin 1-08, Moneymore 1-04.
In the second-half Moneymore found their shooting boots and narrowed the gap
to two points. Desertmartin were presented with a golden opportunity to
stretch their lead but fluffed and could only watch as the ball just went
wide of the mark.
Moneymore had opportunities to narrow the gap continued to misfire and Ryan
Kidd added another point from play, in what was Desertmartin's first score
of the second half, and not before the twentieth minute had passed. In the
next ten minutes both sides added scores, Desertmartin stretching their lead
with scores from Kevin Gormley and Johnny Trainor. Moneymore hit back and in
the last minute of normal time had reduced the deficit to two points.
Desertmartin gave away two easy frees in injury time allowing Moneymore to
draw level for the first time in the game. With the seconds ticking away
Gormley cut though the disjointed Moneymore half-back line and was bearing
down on goal, Moneymore now panic stricken could only haul him down. From
the free Gormley scored the winning point to leave a final score line of
Desertmartin 1-12, Moneymore 1-11.