Dromintee U16:5 GIRLS travelled for its first away game of the season as they took on second placed Granemore in a top of the table clash. This game had everything – great scores, great blocking, good forward movement and tense nervy moments which kept the spectators engrossed in the game.
Playing against the hill and against a stiff breeze in lovely summer evening sunshine Dromintee led by 1 point at the first water break thanks to a goal by wing forward Niamh Mc Cormick. The same player added a second in the second quarter however the home side closed out the half in good style getting in for a three pointer to draw level with the visitors at half time. Dromintee passed up on a number of good scoring chances in the first half through good defending by Granemore and girls taking wrong options in the forward line
Granemore began the second brightly taking the game to the Dromintee girls. They took a three point lead which was quickly reduced and then Dromintee edged narrowly in front with points from Aoibh O’Neill & Rose Boden. Both teams traded scores and they were level going into the last 4 minutes. The home side got their noses in front with time almost up and try hard as they did Dromintee couldn’t get that defense splitting pass to conquer up the equalizing score. With time almost up Granemore got in for a fortunate goal when the ball came off the goalkeeper and was finished to the visitor’s net. The referee blew the final whistle after a pulsating 60 minutes football. Defeated but not deflated. As referee Doogan described it “I will probably not referee a better game all year” and commended the Dromintee girls stating there was nothing between the teams.
This was an absorbing match & Dromintee will learn loads from it and hopefully if their paths cross again later on the summer there might be a similar competitive match between these evenly matched teams.
Scores: Niamh Mc Cormick 2:0
Rose Boden 0:5
Aoibhe O’Neill 0:2
Alannah O’Neill 0:1
Everybody on the panel including the second half substitutes all played their part and they all competed excellently in this terrific battle. Games like this are rare these days but both teams deserve real praise for the quality of their contest and hopefully we can look forward to another contest like this in a few months time.