Narrow defeat for Rearcross 'B' in Templemore

Rearcross ‘B’ made the trip to Templemore on Friday night for a league fixture against BT Harps ‘B’ on their new state-of-the-art, floodlit astro turf pitch. Rearcross started the game well with the surface allowing them to play good, passing football. Colm Carey kept the BT Harps defence on their toes down the left wing in the opening exchanges with his blistering pace. Unfortunately, it was BT who went and struck first in the 18th minute when Joe Foy made a good run into the box down the left wing and found the net with a curled right-footed finish. Rea conceded again only 3 minutes later, something which has been an unlucky theme this season as a penalty was awarded against Eamonn Devitt for a handball, Killian Fennell dispatched despite Brian Hammersley diving the right way. However, from here on in it was a very positive Rearcross performance with some impressive passages of play particularly in the final third. Mikey Feehan came close to pulling one back for the away side before half time when Colm Carey played a great ball across the box, with Mikey just missing the target.
Rearcross kept the pressure on Harps in the second half and got their deserved reward on 60 minutes with a goal from Donnacha O’Brien to put the visitors well and truly back in the game. Rea kept pushing for an equaliser while keeping things tight at the back with Eamonn Devitt making a couple of vital tackles. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be for the visitors despite pushing until the very end as the game ended 2-1 in BT Harps’ favour. Rearcross had strong performances from Eamonn Devitt, Donnacha O’Brien, Mikey Feehan and Brian Hammersley who had a fine outing between the posts.

BT Harps ‘B’: Jack Kennedy, Joe Foy, Aaron Quinlan, Tadhg Quinlan, Nick Keane (Capt), Josh Quinlan, Ali Aissou, James Corcoran, Killian Fennell, Paddy Hickey, Ciaran Barry.
Subs: Mark Quinlan, Riad Ait Ouhamou, Adam Quinlan, Hugh Scott, Michael O’Connell, Lyndon Fairbrother, Allan Fogarty.

Rearcross ‘B’: Brian Hammersley, Paul Ryan, Gary Ryan, Eamonn Devitt (Capt), Sean Malone, Kieran Devitt, Matthew Feehan, Donnacha O’Brien, Colm Carey, Gavin Denihan, Michael Feehan.
Subs: Shane Lenihan, Tom O’Dwyer, Brendan O’Dwyer, John Berkery, Anthony Ryan.

Referee: Thomas Murphy

Report by Brian Hammersley & Ger Kennedy