Village miss out in spicy encounter

Dunmurry Rec 3

DROMARA entertained Dunmurry on Saturday in a fixture which has taken on added spice over the last couple of years due to a few former Dromara players and staff now at Dunmurry.

Dromara started the match with last week’s hat-trick hero Aaron Thompson in goals but this did not appear to cause to much disruption to the opening stages of the match for Dromara as they were soon in front.

A corner kick was not dealt with properly by the Rec defence and the ball fell to Declan O’Connor who somehow managed to get the ball onto his right foot before firing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.

It was not long however before Dunmurry were back on level on terms. Rutherford found space with the ball on the far left corner of the box and he managed to beat to two Dromara defenders before poking the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

This goal gave Dunmurry a lift and with just five minutes to go until half time they took the lead. The Dunmurry centre midfielder chipped a ball over the Dromara defence who had all come out together. Despite Dromara’s protests for an offside, the referee waved play on and the Rec right winger made no mistake with the finish.

The second half started with a few feisty challenges being made by both sides but it was Dromara who settled the better. Feeney and O’Connor were always looking dangerous but the final ball to often let Dromara down.

Dromara equalised mid way through the half. Feeney picked the ball up on the edge of the penalty area and he proceeded to beat one Dunmurry defender who took a swipe at him but he managed to stay on his feet but the second defender was not going to miss and he brought Feeney down in the box for a penalty. Feeney dusted himself down to slot home the penalty.

After this there were no real clear cut chances for either side but the game was to have a few more twists in the closing stages. Dunmurry were handed a gift for the winning goal with just under 10 minutes left.

A corner from the right was misjudged by the Dromara keeper who was not long on the pitch and the ball fell to the feet of a Dunmurry forward who made no mistake.

This was not to be the end of the action as with five mins to go the referee awarded a foul to Dromara on the halfway line for a late tackle. After a bit of scuffle, former Dromara player Ricky Rutherford said something to the referee and having already been booked he was sent off.

Dromara did not have enough time to take advantage of their extra man and Dunmurry held on for the win.

Team: Thompson, G McDonagh, P Johnson, O’Gorman, J McDonagh, KP Johnson, Doherty, Jess, McNamee, O’Connor, Feeney.