New Santos vs Greencastle Rovers
New Santos were matched against a Greencastle side unbeaten across all competitions this season and current Nelson Cup holders in the third round of the Nelson Cup looking to avenge their 4-2 defeat in the Junior Shield earlier in the season.
A makeshift Santos side took time to settle early on and found themselves under pressure from Greencastle who forced a couple of corners which came to nothing.
Both sides had penalty appeals turned down before Greencastle took the lead due to some lackluster marking from Santos as keeper JP Byrne was beat at his near post. Greencastle pushed on from then on and Santos struggling to gain possession for an extended period of time.
Perhaps getting too confident, Santos hit Greencastle on the break as David Harrigans pass left the Greencastle keeper in two minds and he was punished as Martin Magee got to the ball first and delicately poked it over the keeper. The sides went into the break with Santos gaining a sense of optimism from their equaliser.
Half-time: New Santos 1-1 Greencastle Rovers
The second half began much like the first, with Greencastle on top but kept at bay by an increasingly solid Santos defence which limitied Greencastle to long range efforts.
The sides then exchanged penalty appeals each before Greencastle took the lead again. A neat passing move resulted in a shot from 12 yards which was parried by JP Byrne but a Greencastle player reacted quicker than the hesitant defence and tapped into an empty net.
Santos battled hard and pushed for an equaliser but found it difficult to mainain possession as well as Greencastle. They did however have a golden opportunity with 10 minutes left to draw level, but Michael Wests' effort after the ball broke to him from a corner, was blocked on the line and turned away for another corner by a defender.
As Santos comitted further men forward and went 3 at the back, Greencastle scored with the last kick of the game, as an unmarked midfielder fired superbly from 20 yards to send Rovers into the next round.
Full-time: New Santos 1-3 Greencastle Rovers
Team:
GK: JP Byrne
DL: Kevin Carson
DR: Sean Carson
DC: Ronan Doherty (Darran Holland)
DC: David Dougan
ML: Martin Magee
MR: David Harrigan
MC: Paul Burns (Michael West)
MC: Johnny Magill
SC: Simon Magee
SC: Paddy O’Reilly (James Martin)
M.o.t.M vote results:
David Dougan – 5
Martin Magee - 3
