SEMI FINAL HEARTBREAK FOR GERS! Camlough Rovers 1-1 (aet) Banbridge Rangers (Camlough win 5-4 on penalties) There is a Christmas saying that asks for goodwill to all men but that wasnt the case in the Premier Cup Semi Final as Camlough Rovers keeper Joe Goodwill broke the hearts of all men wearing blue. The Camlough stopper produced a top drawer save during the early stages game to deny Banbridge Rangers midfielder Jonny ONeill and then surpassed these heroics by superbly saving the Gers fifth penalty in the shootout after Camlough had already missed one. Camlough Rovers took full advantage by levelling the shootout to take it to sudden death where the woodwork ended Banbridge Rangers New Year Cup Final dream. It was in the seventh minute when Goodwill was first tested in a high tempo game as a looping headed clearance was volleyed forcefully towards the top corner by ONeill but he was somehow denied by an acrobatic fingertip save. Jeff Brady was next to sting the hands of the keeper after getting a shot away on 13 minutes after a well worked move as his side began to stamp their authority on the game. On 21 minutes left back William Frazer had to receive the Terry Butcher treatment when Camlough striker Declan Monaghan nudged him head first into the metal fence and found his way into referee Killian Kerrs book. The Gers were down to ten men for several minutes but still created openings with striker Jerry Philip paving the way for Brady to find space on the right hand side of the area but a shot with his weaker foot failed to find the net. Frazer returned to the field and made an instant impact by making a goalline clearance after Monaghan had dribbled his way to the byline and his pull back to John Grant was drilled low past keeper Chris Davison but not past the alert Rangers left back. With ten minutes to go until the break Camlough should have opened the scoring against the run of play when a free kick from Moan found Monaghan unmarked at the back post but he somehow headed into the side netting from a yard out. Rangers finished the half on top with the front four of Stuart Mallen, Jeff Brady, Jonny Porter and Jerry Philip asking serious questions of the Camlough rearguard. The start of the second half saw a drop in tempo from Rangers with Camlough looking to attack from the off and almost went ahead when Lee Lennon powered a header past the post from an inswinging corner on 49 minutes. An almost exact replication of this chance was to happen five minutes later with Camlough able to find the back of the net this time from a similar header at the back post to the delight of the home touchline. The joy was to be short lived as Banbridge Rangers found an equaliser within two minutes after the ball fell fortuitously to Jonny ONeill at the back post and he poked home from eight yards out to send the large travelling support into raptures. There was no hiding place on the pitch as every tackle and pass was hit and placed with convinction from both teams intent on making it to the Final, and as a result Mr Kerr cautioned three players in each team with Cousins, Chambers and Philip all guilty of misdemeanours. As the game moved into the final embers play began to open up with Rangers trying to unlock a Camlough side who looked potent on the counter attack. In the 92nd minute a long punt forward saw Monaghan recover the ball at the corner flag and faced off in a one on one against Chambers who took the skilful striker out and a second yellow saw him take an early bath. Chambers was having one of his best performances of the season and made numerous important tackles and clearances but this action forced McMinn into a reshuffle at the back with the void being filled by right back Kyle Sergeant to partner Ryan Gregg with Jonny Porter then dropping into defence. At the start of extra time Rangers lost their all action Captain Colin Cousins to injury with Adam Beattie coming on into midfield. Despite being a man down the Gers gave a good account of themselves in extra time with Philip and Brady continuing to engineer chances. Extra time eventually fizzled out with Davison showing bravery and maturity under pressure meaning the tie would have to be decided by a dreaded penalty shootout. Rangers first two penalties were expertly dispatched by brothers Dean Mallen and Andy Mallen who had both come on late in the game to utilise their dead ball capabilities. Camloughs second penalty was fired past the top corner to the delight of the away support and both teams made no mistake with their next two penalties apiece leaving Jeff Brady with a chance to send his team into the Final. Unfortunately Bradys penalty was tipped around the post by Goodwill as it headed towards the very bottom right hand corner. Camlough then took the game to sudden death penalties but the Gers hearts sunk with the defeaning sound of the crossbar being struck by Kyle Sergeants driven shot. The Rovers response was into the very top corner to send the boys from South Armagh into the Premier Cup Final where they will play the winners of Tandragee Rovers and St Marys. As the teams left the field there was no doubt that every player had left everything on the pitch and the emotion showed how much it means. A great advert for Intermediate football with a passionite crowd, two commited teams and plenty of incidents. All the best to Camlough Rovers in the Final and with 2015 on the horizon Banbridge Rangers will be keen to build on the superb progress made in the last few months to make their tenth anniversary year one to remember. BRFC Team: Chris Davison, Kyle Sergeant, Ryan Gregg, Chris Chambers, William Frazer (Andy Mallen 109), Jonny Porter (Dean Mallen 107), Jonny ONeill, Colin Cousins (c) (Adam Beattie 94), Jeff Brady, Stuart Mallen and Jerry Philip.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Dec 2014 21:01:27 +0000
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