Super Gordon shows the way

24 June 2015

LOUGHINISLAND overpowered a more than useful Bredagh side at St. Macartan Park on Friday night to stay in contention at the top of the Division 2 table.

Make no mistake about it, Bredagh were a tough nut to crack and an understrength home side had to produce the goods with Dan Gordon giving a midfield master class when it mattered most.

Gordon, who only needed a red cape and a pair of blue tights to complete the guise, sailed through the air on several occasions to pluck the ball out of the sky, and it was he who opened the scoring after only 10 seconds.

He won dirty ball from the throw-in and immediately launched a long ball into the path of Dominic McClements at full forward. Bredagh goalkeeper Jack Duffin came out to intercept, but the ball bounced over his head and over the bar for the game’s opening score.

Two minutes later Tommy McElroy, the former Fermanagh county player, brought the sides level with a great point from play.

Bredagh, who used their full forward line as the first line of defence, were all over Loughinisland like a rash and their fast, flowing game produced a second point from a converted Alan Davidson free in the fourth minute after Emmett Costello had been fouled.

Seamus O’Hare brought the sides level after seven minutes when he too converted a free and as Loughinisland came to terms with Bredagh’s game plan, further points from Cormac O’Toole and Conor O’Reilly gave the Blues a 0-4 to 0-2 lead.

Loughinisland persisted with their simplistic, but effective approach as they let the ball do the work and with 12 minutes gone O’Hare tagged on another converted free after Dominic McClements had been fouled.

Sean Cochrane and Davidson exchanged scores before Loughinisland lost Damhan O’Toole to a black card and he was replaced by Aaron McClements.

Bredagh took advantage of Loughinisland having to reorganise and two frees from Davidson left a point in it, 0-6 to 0-5, after 25 minutes. However, as admirable as Bredagh’s work ethic was, it was Loughinisland’s route one approach that paid the bigger dividends and points from Raymond Nixon and Aaron McClements gave the Blues a 0-8 to 0-5 interval lead.

Three minutes after the break a sweeping Loughinisland move was brought to a halt when Duffin raced off his line to take out Conor Megoran as he burst through and O’Hare placed the resultant penalty into the back of the net, 1-8 to 0-5.

Fair play to Bredagh, they shrugged this setback off and points from Davidson and Niall Mulholland left four points in it after 41 minutes. Gordon then lofted over a typically swashbuckling score before Davidson cancelled this out with a point of his own from play.

Bredagh tired in the closing stages – no wonder – and Loughinisland’s sharpshooters simply picked them off with Aaron McClements (2) and Rory Mason finding their range to give the home side an impressive victory.

Loughinisland: C. Turley, P. Nugent, P. Megoran, R. Nixon (0-1), S. Cochrane (0-1), D. Gordon (0-2), Cormac O’Toole (0-1), D. O’Toole, J. Flynn, R. Deegan, S. O’Hare (1-2), C. O’Reilly (0-1), C. Megoran, D. McClements, Conor O’Toole. Subs: A. McClements (0-3) for D. O’Toole (black card), C. Killen for D. McClements, O. Teague for Cormac O’Toole, R. Mason (0-1) for O’Hare.

Bredagh: J. Duffin, K. Muldoon, K. Harte, M. Magee, T. McElroy (0-1), E. Costello, D. McCagney, J. McKenna, D. Hughes, C. Hughes, A. Davidson (0-6), C. Toland, B. Rice, D. O’Hara, N. Mulholland (0-1). Subs: M. Robinson for McCagney, C. Francis for O’Hara.

Loughinisland 1-12

Bredagh 0-8

ACFL DIVISION 2

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