Cumann Pheadair Naofa 1-18 V Castlewellan 1-11
In the end Warrenpoint were the superior team with the match won well before the final whistle but they gave their supporters an anxious first 30 minutes when Castlewellan by in large took the game to Warrenpoint and looked for stages in the first half as if they might be victorious. The final few minutes of the match saw the issue of two red cards, one for each team, following a melee that developed when Donagh Mc Aleenen, who had taken a lot of unsolicited attention all night, was pinned to the ground by his marker. Warrenpoint players should have left the matter in the hands of the referee but some chose not to and the result is that Ross Mc Garry will miss the next vital match against local rivals Rostrevor.
Castlewellan showed their serious intent from the throw in when the ball was quickly dispatched to the corner forward L Mc Kibben who opened the scoring with a point after 15 seconds. The Point replied with a laborious build up which ended in a turn over and was soon followed by a wide from Joe Magee. Castlewellan had a wide of their own before C Crilly received a great pass from the Castlewellan goalkeeper to score their second point in the fifth minute. A few minutes later Castlewellan center half K Duffin has an easy chance of a point straight in front of the posts but managed to put it wide. It wasn’t until the 8th minute when Ross Mc Garry converted a free awarded to Donagh Mc Aleenen that Warrenpoint opened their account. John Boyle levelled the score in the 10 minute with a tremendous shot from 40 yards out.
Castlewellan scored a fine goal shortly after that when a Warrenpoint possession that should have been cleared easily resulted in a free to Castlewellan and the ball was dispatched quickly to A Burns who rounded his marker skilfully and headed to the goal making no mistake when he shot. Ross Mc Garry had two good scores from one from a free and one from a 50. They were broken up by an attempt on goal from Joe Magee which resulted in a fine save from the Castlewellan keeper. Warrenpoint’s next score was one of their best of the night with swift forward movement from the goal keeper up the right wing which ended in a Donagh Mc Aleenan point to even the scores on the 18 minute 0-5 to 1-02. Castlewellen nosed ahead a few minutes later thanks to an easy free. In the closing ten minutes of the half points were traded by both sides. Joe Magee won a ball down the right wing and set Niall Mc Cartan up for a fine point. Mc Kibben scored again from a difficult angle and Mc Garry converted a free that was about 50 yards out. Then Connor Corrigan, Castlewellan full back, came up to score a well taken point from almost the side line about 30 yards out on the left hand side. This was followed by a great individual effort from John Boyle and just as half time was approaching Joe Magee after some good work of his own fisted the ball over the bar to give Warrenpoint the lead for the first time in the game. The half ended Warrenpoint 0-09 Castlewellan 1-05.
The second half open with a Warrenpoint mirror image of Castlewellan’s first score, Ryan Magee won the ball from the throw-in and dispatched the ball to Ruairí Mc Cormack who quickly moved into space and kicked the ball over the bar from 35 yards out after 9 seconds. Both teams traded wides, Mc Garry from a free and Garreth Mc Kibben from play. Good movement from Jamie Lynch put Joe Mage through for his second score to put the Point three ahead.
Following a turnover Gareth Mc Kibben narrowed the gap to two with a fine point. He was proving to be Castlewellan’s most enterprising forward of the evening. Mc Garry converted another free following a foul on Ruairí Mc Cormack and the Point tally was quickly added to when Ross Mc Garry worked hard to pass to Eoghan Byrne who scored the highest struck point of the match, and another converted free from Ross meant Warrenpoint had scored three without reply and were now five points clear of Castlewellan after ten minutes of the second half. At this stage Jamie Grant was given a yellow card for an awkward but not malicious tackle and following his R Lundy restored Castlewellan’s scoring momentum with a point which was soon followed by another well taken free from Mc Garry. Lundy shot gain but this time it went wide and five points still separated the sides. Aaron Magee made this six when he scored from 40 yards out. L M Kibben scored for Castlewellan to bring the gap back to five with ten minutes of the match remaining. Mc Garry and Gareth Mc Kibben traded frees. The game ended as a contest when Niall Mc Cartan moved with strength and purpose and passed to Jamie Grant who powerfully struck the ball to the net. 1-17 to 1-09 for Warrenpoint and no way back for Castlewellan with just five minutes to play. Joe Magee scored his third of the evening all well taken scores to leave the score 1-18 to 1-09 and Castlewellan’s star of the match Garreth Mc Kibben scored followed by a point from K Duffin to leave the final score 1-18 to 1-11.
Warrenpoint Scores
- Mc Garry 0-08 (All Frees), J. Magee 0-03, J. Grant 1-00, J. Boyle 0-02, R. Mc Cormack 0-01,
- Mc Aleenen 0-01, N. Mc Cartan 0-01, E. Byrne 0-01, A. Magee 0-01.
