Stradbally battle hard to leave Coolraine with a point

CCFL Division 1

Coolraine FC 1

Stradbally Town 1

Stradbally earned a vital against title chasing Coolraine on Sunday morning in what was an excellent game of football for all those watching on. Coolraine were looking to take full points from this being one of their games in hand over leaders Gallen Utd.

Stradbally's depleted squad, who were hampered through a mixture of holidays and injuries, took the lead in the 3rd minute when the home keeper failed to deal with a Ciaran O’Neill strike and John Clancy was hand to slot home from 8 yards for the away side, who started the better. Ciaran O’Neill nearly made it 2 on 23 minutes but was thwarted by a good save from the home keeper.

At the other end, the Stradbally back four with Colin Beale and Conor Goode at the heart of it were holding a great line to keep the tricky Coolraine attackers at bay. They did manage to grab a goal, however, it was rightly adjudged to be a couple of yards off on 35 minutes. Eamon Delaney filling in between the sticks then made a good save tipping over the bar on 44 minutes to keep his team ahead at the break.

The second half saw Coolraine draw level on 47 minutes from a header at the back post. Coolraine were seeing a lot of possession as the second half drew on but Stradbally continued to defend with everything they had. Coolraine then struck the bar on 70 minutes with the ball bouncing just the right side of the line.

Both Stradbally's best chances of the second half fell to Conor Goode, firstly on 76 minutes when he headed just over at the back post from an O’Neill corner and then on 86 minutes when he won the ball in his own defence, burst up the field playing a one two with Damien Murphy before getting a strike off that was saved by the keeper. Six minutes of stoppage time was somehow found by the referee but despite having Coolraine camped in their half throughout this period, Stradbally defended resolutely and hung on for a well earned and well deserved point with their backs against the wall.

A fine team display from Stradbally who had the excellent Eamon Delaney in goal while Colin Beale, Conor Goode, Podge Fitzpatrick and John Clancy must also get special mentions.

TEAM: Eamon Delaney, Colm Fitzpatrick, Colin Beale, Conor Goode, Podge Fitzpatrick, Noah Delaney, Damien Murphy, John Clancy, Aaron Wright, Derek O’Gorman and Ciaran O’Neill.