Barnane FC 6 - Rearcross 'B' 2
Rearcross B were on the road again for the away trip to fellow league strugglers Barnane. Rearcross had a briefly disorganised start with only 9 players on the pitch. Once the numbers were levelled the Rearcross attack orchestrated the best of the early chances, with Joey Nolan and Harry Williams coming close. The strong Barnane outfit quickly got the upper hand, and Jerome Ryan scored two early goals. The first was in the 10th minute, and the second; a fortuitous effort in the 16th minute. When the Barnane team were reduced to ten players after a sending off midway through the first half, the pendulum of play swung the Rearcross way. Nevertheless, despite repeated efforts and a series of corners, Rearcross failed to register a goal before half time with the home side leading 2-0 at the break. As with recent trends Rearcross started the second half with vigour and despite good attempts and pressure, they found that the Barnane goalkeeper was in top form. Against the run of play Rearcross conceded a third goal and while a deflated attitude was present, a fourth goal quickly followed in the 58th minute. Yet again, Rearcross gathered themselves and pressed on in stronger numbers gaining another series of corners and free kicks, with Joey Nolan’s low effort bringing out the best in the Barnane keeper. Two goals eventually did come for Rearcross. The first of which coming from a Joey Nolan cross, as he found-out Sean Harte and the second goal, the result of a similar play. This time the crossed ball found the busy Kieran Devitt. Alas, the goals came as a tired working Rearcross rearguard was unable to handle the fast counter attacks of the Barnane forwards. The constant swing in the play, suited Barnane best as the now trimmed down Rearcross backline suffered many more breaches before the pressure took its toll. The young Rearcross keeper had a torrid afternoon dealing with the Barnane shots; however Patrick Coffey did produce one of the best saves of the season, turning behind a certain goal from the top left hand corner. In that final quarter of the match Barnane notched up two more goals, the second of which came when Rearcross failed to clear a low targeted corner kick. At the other end of the pitch the activity centred on a combination of block downs, corners, and a penalty which was saved by the superb Barnane keeper. Thus, leaving Rearcross B without any credible reward from a game that could have easily run up double scores; given the amount of chances available to both teams. The game finished Barnane 6, Rearcross B 2.
Rearcross 'B': Patrick Coffey, Theo English, Martin McLoughlin, William Mackey, Damien Nolan, Andy Ryan, PJ McLoughlin, Kieran Devitt, Darren Quigley, Joey Nolan, Harry Williams.
Subs: Mike Quigley (45), Sean Harte (58).
Referee: J Devanney
Report compiled by Liam Nolan(C)