Last minute goal seals narrow win for Rearcross U-15 Boys

Rearcross U-15’s played Ballymackey under lights last Friday evening in Rearcross in what was a tight encounter before the hosts netted a late winner in dramatic fashion to secure maximum points. Rea played against a strong wind in the opening half, but still made a bright start as a Liam Brett effort was well saved by Tadgh Murphy in the Ballymackey goal. Jack Nolan was in the action minutes later with a powerful strike that was saved by the visiting custodian as Liam Brett was luckless not to connect with the follow up. The Ballinree shot stopper was proving his worth with further blocks from Jonathan Dawson and Jack Nolan and this had a motivating effect on the visiting team which went on to dominate the final 10 minutes of the half. Derek Hickey and Paddy Daly were very much to the fore before the woodwork denied the visitors when Ethan Connolly’s fine strike struck the crossbar to leave the sides scoreless at the break.
Rearcross came out in the 2nd half knowing that a bigger effort was going to be needed to get a result against a well drilled Ballymackey side and signalled intent with a Jonathan Dawson shot that flew just wide and then Tadgh Murphy saved well from a Jack Nolan free kick. It was end to end as Rearcross keeper Darragh Reynolds was called in to action twice in quick succession to quell Ballymackey attacks. The game ebbed and flowed back and forth with Oisin Reynolds and James Costello making telling clearances before Ballymackey’s Emmet O’Dwyer was through on goal only for Colm Hickey to make a last-ditch tackle to deny the advance. As in previous matches Rearcross kept going and were rewarded in the end, when a Ciaran Canavan defensive clearance following a corner kick found Jonathan Dawson, who in turn released Jack Nolan, the Rea marksman raced through on goal before sending the ball past an outstretched Tadgh Murphy to give Rearcross a dramatic 1-0 win to much jubilation on and off the field. The referee blew the final whistle a minute later to copper fasten the win for the home side.

Rearcross U-15 Boys: Darragh Reynolds, Colm Hickey, Oisin Reynolds, Paraic Carr, James Costello, Sam Hackett, Conor Carr, Liam Brett, Jack Nolan, Jonathon Dawson, Liam Ryan
Subs: Ciaran Canavan, Ronan Hammersley, Jack Hickey, Colm O'Meara

Ballymackey FC: T Murphy, E Ryan, A Kilgallon, D Hickey, E Connolly, E O’Dwyer, A Clifford, S Fitzgerald, J Timmons, P Daly, N Ryan
Subs: J Ryan, C Ryan, C O’Brien

Referee: Doran Lee

Report by Shane Reynolds