Loughinisland impress in Ulster

Loughinisland impress in Ulster

21 October 2015

LOUGHINISLAND showed great character to recover from a poor start to run out convincing winners over a powerful Greenlough in the preliminary round of the Ulster Club IHC.

Blues manager Jerome Johnston reshuffled his pack with a number of personnel changes in the lead-up to the game. These looked like backfiring in the early stages of the first half when the Derry men ran rampant.

The opening exchanges were bruising and it was Greenlough who were five clear at the end of the first quarter.

They mustered up a 0-6 to 0-1 lead with Conor Megoran getting Loughinisland’s only score.

Johnny Flynn’s arrival on to the scene from the bench gave the Blues a fresh impetus and he raised the white flag along with Rory Mason and Megoran.

Greenlough had a strong response though with Niall Bradley and Enda Lynn extending their lead to 0-8 to 0-4 with halftime quickly approaching.

Then came a pivotal few moments that turned the game on its head. Rory Mason and Johnny Flynn hit minor efforts before the impressive Dan Gordon rocketed a shot past Bradley in the Greenlough goal.

Aaron McClements and Rory Mason kept the onslaught going before sub Stefan Mason capped off a remarkable turnaround as Loughinisland marched into a three-point half-time lead.

This comeback seemed to hit Greenlough’s confidence badly as they imploded in the second half.

Only two more points came their way as they squandered a host of very scoreable chances.

Despite ping down a gear Loughinisland commanded proceedings with relative authority.

McLaughlin, Stranney and Rory Mason kept the bandwagon rolling with points before the game was signed, sealed and delivered in the 52nd minute when the towering Gareth Johnston operated a slick interchange with Paul Digney before finding the back of the net to firmly put the tie out of Greenlough’s reach.

Loughinisland outscored the Oak Leafers 0-2 to 0-1 in the dying embers as the Derry men finished the game with 14men after a late red card.

It was a deserved victory in the end. The games are going to get tougher, but Loughinisland can be rightly confident of an extended 

run.

Loughinisland: K Gordon, R Nixon, P Megoran, P Digney, D McLaughlin (0-1), S Cochrane, C Killen, D Gordon (1-0), D O’Toole, R Mason (0-5, 3F), S O’Hare, A McClements (0-1), G Johnston (1-0), C Megoran (0-3), J McCarthy. Subs: J Flynn (0-2), S Mason (0-2), R Stranney (0-1), R Deegan, P McKinney.

Greenlough: C Bradley, G Loughlin, J Kearney, P Quinn, B McCallion, K McCann, C Kearney, M Tohill, N Bradley (0-1), C Madden, J Og McPeake, R Tohill (0-1), S Lynn, N Loughlin (0-3, 1 45). E Lynn (0-6, 3F). Subs: L Quinn, C Lagan, C O’Neill, F Kelly.

Loughinisland 2-15

Greenlough 0-11

ULSTER IFC PRELIMINARY ROUND