McMullan is St. John’s star with string of saves

McMullan is St. John’s star with string of saves

18 September 2013

THE St John’s bandwagon rolled into Downpatrick on Sunday afternoon and it showed no signs of stopping as Shamrocks felt the full force of their power.

Mickey Linden’s Newry men were hotly tipped to make light work of the Johnnies, but Conor Morgan and company had different ideas as they swept into the semi finals.

Target man Morgan got St John’s off the mark within the first minute of action.

Shamrocks were the quicker to settle though as Jack Haughey and Niall Cunningham registered.

St John’s had a great chance to get the first goal of the game but Joe Milligan’s ground stroke struck a post and deflected wide.

The next score arrived in the 13th minute when Conor Morgan levelled the affair with a free kick.

A few minutes later midfielder Danny McKay put the Drumnaquoile based side one clear.

In the next attack Shamrocks made their first clear inroad into the St John’s defence. However, goalkeeper Darren McMullan was equal to Jack Haughey’s rasping drive.

Thirty seconds later McMullan produced another outstanding save to deny Damien McKeown a near certain goal.

The game then cooled off for a period before McKeown pointed for Shamrocks to make it 0-3 each.

The last ten minutes of the half saw St John’s hold most of the possession.

Frees from Conor Morgan and Chris McKay brought them into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead which they held until the break.

Only six scores arrived in the second half and both sides mustered 1-2.

A Niall Cunningham free straight after the restart brought the minimum back between the entities.

Shamrocks tried but couldn’t get any closer to the Johnnies as Darren Savage and Harry McMullan were forming a strong partnership at the back which was becoming near impenetrable.

St John’s hard work then paid off in the 37th minute.

Chris McKay was awarded a free which he proceeded to take quickly. Shamrock’s had nobody on the line bar their goalkeeper and he could only watch hopelessly as the ball sailed past him and into the net.

A minute later Conor Morgan cracked over a wonderful curling shot to put his team into the ascendancy by five points.

With the wind playing havoc with the ball and deceiving players at every opportunity the next passages of play yielded little quality.

Jack Haughey should have scored a goal in the 44th minute, but his lob hit the post and scuttled free.

Niall Cunningham bagged his third free, but Shamrocks couldn’t manage to build on this.

A Chris McKay point then put five in it once again as the duel entered it’s last ten minutes.

St John’s kept the ball well in the closing stages and their greater fitness shone through as Shamrock’s began to fade.

Jack Haughey did sneak in for a late goal to bring Shamrocks to within touching distance.

There was a bit of late drama as the game’s star player Darren McMullan produced yet another top class save to deny Haughey another goal.

The Johnnies held out to claim a memorable victory and their progress was down to standout displays from Darren Savage, Harry McMullan, Conor Burns, Danny McKay, Chris McKay, Conor Morgan and Marty Keenan.

Shamrock’s were second best for most of the game but Conor Gough, Niall Cunningham, Jack Haughey and Damien McKeown showed well.

St John’s: D. McMullan, C. O’Connor, H. McMullan, D. Savage, C. Burns, M. Flynn, C. Branniff, D. McKay (0-01), J. Addis, C. McKay (1-2, 2F), D. Murray, J. Milligan, C. Gilmore, C. Morgan (0-4, 2F), M. Keenan. Subs: D. Burns, A. Doran, C. McCombe, N. Magorrian, H. Flanagan.

Shamrocks: C. Hanna, J. Dickson, G. Loughran, K. Hegarty, D. Morgan, K. McGuigan, J. McAteer, Cr. Gough, S. O’Hagan, C. Fegan, Cl. Gough, E. McGuinness, N. Cunningham (0-3, 3F), J. Haughey (1-1), D. McKeown (0-1). Subs: C. Coffey, S. Lundy, M. Rafferty, N. Murphy.

St. John’s 1-7

Shamrocks 1-5

DOWN IFC QUARTER-FINAL