Rearcross ‘B’ lose out to a strong Knigh United outfit

Rearcross ‘B’ hosted Knigh United under the lights last Friday night. Both teams had a bright start to their respective league campaigns. However, Knigh had the brighter of starts to this game. Bryan McLoughney opened the scoring for the visitors after 6 minutes when the Rea defence were caught off guard by a quick Knigh throw in. The away side then doubled their lead almost instantly when Bryan McLoughney played a ball across the Rearcross goal allowing James Quigley to finish from close range. Less than 2 minutes later things got even worse for Rea when once again they were caught off guard by a quick throw in which saw Mark Gleeson through one on one with Brian Hammersley, Gleeson made no mistake finishing coolly into the back of the net. Knigh almost went and made it 4 soon after but were denied thanks to a good reflex save by Brian Hammersley. Mikey Feehan came closest for Rea in the first half when his long-range effort was denied by the fingertips of Keith Kelly in the Knigh goal who just about managed to tip it onto the post. The hosts went in trailing 3-0 at the break after a very disappointing first half performance.
It was a much better showing from Rearcross in the second half as they settled into the game and started to create much more chances. Gavin Denihan came close to pulling one back when he spotted the keeper off his line and had a go from long range however Keith Kelly managed to get back just in time to keep the ball out of the net. Some good defending from Callum Wallace helped to keep things tight at the back throughout the second half for Rea. Gavin Denihan came close again later on in the half as did Mikey Feehan, but it wasn’t until the 80th minute that Rea would eventually open their account when Gavin Denihan got on the end of a misplaced back pass from a Knigh defender and produced a beautiful, chipped finish into the back of the net. Unfortunately for the home side it was a case of too little, too late and Knigh would go on to see the game out as 3-1 winners. Overall, it was a disappointing result for Rea but they can be proud of their reaction in the second half against one of the top teams in the league.

Rearcross ‘B’: Brian Hammersley, Paul Ryan, Gavin Denihan, Eamonn Devitt (Capt), Sean Malone, Kieran Devitt, Max Carroll, Gary Ryan, Donnacha O’Brien, Mikey Feehan, Cathal Ryan.
Subs: Patrick Ryan, Patrick Kennedy, Callum Wallace, Brendan O’Dwyer, Tom O’Dwyer, Mattie Feehan, Paul Carey.

Knigh United: K. Kelly, N. Cahalan, J. Quigley, J. O’Meara, C. Sheahan, D. O’Brien, M. Gleeson, P. Gallagher(Capt), C. Connolly, J. Saunders, B. McLoughney.
Subs: D. Butler, B. McGahey, D. Sweeney, B. Seymour.

Referee: TP O’Sullivan

Report by Brian Hammersley

Rearcross keeper Brian Hammersley makes a fine reflex save to deny the visitors

The Knigh post denies Mikey Feehan late in the opening half

Gavin Denihan unlucky not to pull one back for Rea with a long range effort

Gavin Denihan reduces the deficit with a chipped finish from inside the box