IFC: Fechins and Na Piarsaigh draw
July 14, 2014
Brian Devlin St Fechins
ST FECHINS 0-10
NA PIARSAIGH 0-10
St Fechins hit back from a man down and three points down with eight minutes remaining to rescue a draw against Na Piarsaigh in the Intermediate Championship clash in Stabannon on Saturday night.
Ryan Sheridan was the scoring hero for the Fechins as he sent over an injury-time '45' to give his side a share of the spoils.
The Termonfeckin men went into the game as one of the early season favourites but their hopes looked set to for a huge blow with defeat staring them in the face. Na Piarsaigh appeared to be in control of the game as the Fechins lost Paul King to a straight red on 46 minutes, and with 52 minutes on the clock Mark Larkin landed a point to put the Dundalk men 0-10 to 0-7 in front.
However, Na Piarsaigh were guilty of sitting back on their lead somewhat and they allowed St Fechins retain hope. Sheridan added to that hope when he pulled a point back from a '45' after Donal Greene had made a great save from Brian Devlin on 23 minutes.
Jamie King then put just a point between the teams in the 28th minute with a well-taken effort before Sheridan stepped up in injury time to slot over another '45' after Harry McCarthy had an effort deflected past the post.
Although Na Piarsaigh will be the more disappointed of the two sides given that they had the game within their grasp, a draw was probably a fair result in a game where the teams only occasionally got into their rhythm.
The heavy downpours just before the start of each half made life very difficult for both sets of players throughout as the greasy conditions contributed to a series of handling and kicking errors.
Mark Larkin started the scoring from a free in the second minute but soon after Ronan Holcroft levelled from a placed ball.
David Boyle landed the first from play but it was a further 12 minutes before Ronan Holcroft levelled and almost immediately his side was in front for the first time thanks to a Brian Devlin point.
That advantage didn't last long as points from Gary O'Hare and Joseph Woods had the Dundalk side back in front on 23 minutes, but John McGlew point brought the teams level once more. Just before the break Sean McAuley got on the end of a good move to put his side 0-5 to 0-4 in front.
Na Piarsaigh can thank goalkeeper Donal Greene for sending them in with that advantage as he pulled off two excellent saves to deny certain goals for John McGlew and Brian Devlin.
Ryan Sheridan kicked a '45' to tie the game and but it looked as if Na Piarsaigh had made the decisive move when they landed points from Mark Larkin, Sean McAuley and Eamonn McAuley in quick succession to lead by 0-8 to 0-5 on 42 minutes.
St Fechins then lost Paul King to a red card following an altercation as Ronan Holcroft as about to sent over a free. When Na Piarsaigh went 0-10 to 0-7 up it looked all over but they showed great character to hit back for a draw.
ST FECHINS: Keith McCarthy; Niall McCabe, Richard McDonnell, David Collier; Sean McConnell, Ryan Sheridan 0-4 (4 '45'), Marc Hines; John McGlew, Bevan Duffy; Ronan Holcroft 0-3, Colm O'Neill 0-1, Jamie King 0-1; Brian Devlin 0-1, Paul King, Harry McArdle. Subs: Niall Devlin for H McArdle, Harry McCarthy for J McGlew.
STABANNON: Paul O'Hare; Joseph Woods 0-1, Ronan McCartney, Stephen McGuinness; Aidan Marks, Gary O'Hare 0-1, John Garvey; Jarlath Lyons, Michael Woods; Eamonn McAuley 0-1, Alan McCartney, Sean McAuley 0-2; Mark Larkin 0-3, David Boyle 0-2, Cormac Malone.
Most Read Stories