The good weather on Holy Saturday brought a decent crowd to watch Warrenpoint play local rivals Mayobridge. It was a tale of two halves the Point were dominant in the first half when the pace of the game was sporadic, at times pedestrian and at other times frenetic and in the second, when the intensity was upped considerably, Mayobridge were dominant . Yet a late Warrenpoint revival should have earned them a draw and maybe even the two points.
The scoring opened with a good point from Ryan Boyle in the first minute of the game. Mayobridge followed that with a wide The Point missed a free before Alan Davidson converted a point from play after an interchange with Mc Garry in the fifth minute. We then had a trade mark point from Ross Mc Garry who popped the ball over from about 40 yards out following good work from the Point forwards. Both teams swapped wides again before Kevin Mc Clorey opened the scoring for Mayobridge in the 9th minute of the game. From the kick out Jamie Grant got the ball and passed to Jamie Lynch who made a good run up the line returned the ball to Jamie Grant who pumped a high ball into the Mayobridge defence it was collected by Davidson who set up the incoming Ruairí Mc Cormack for a well taken goal to put Warrenpoint 1-03 to 0-01 in the lead by the tenth minute. From the kick out Mayobridge seemed to many to score a point but the referee decided it was wide. A free for Warrenpoint gave Mc Garry a simple tap over and the Point were ahead by 1-04 to 0-01. A poor pass,when Warrenpoint were in a good attacking position set C Gallagher up for Mayobridge’s second point in the 14th minute of the game. Another Warrenpoint attack broke down when Ross Mc Garry was penalised for a throw ball. From the free Maybridge advance to the Warrenpoint 14 metre line where they were awarded a rather soft free which gave them their third point from a Collie Quinn free. A prolonged spell of cross field and back passing was broken by a long ball from Alan Davidson that found Mc Garry in space and in a good position but his shot went wide. Mayobridge got their fourth point with a good shot from midfielder S Annett to leave them trailing by just three points. Warrenpoint were fortunate when a poor kick out, which went straight to Mayobridge was squandered by even worse passing from the Mayobridge forwards. In the subsequent attack Warrenpoint were awarded a free for a foul on Donagh Mc Aleenan and after a little dissent the ball was moved forward and Ross Mc Garry coverted for another point for the Blues. Mc Garrys featured again soon after that when he broke up an extended period of Mayobridge short passing which brought them from the Point end line to their own 50 yard line and back in again, a well-judged Mc Garry tackle restored possession to Warrenpoint. They advanced at speed and a foul in the middle of the field resulted in a yellow card for S Annett the free was once again moved forward for dissent and Mc Garry had no bother completing the Warrenpoint scoring for the first half to leave them ahead in the 25th minute by 1-06 0-04. The Point were unlucky when a long distance Alan Davidson shot hit the upright and returned to play. Although Warrenpoint won possession in the subsequent build up Donagh Mc Aleenan over carried the ball and Mayobridge no14 G Gallagher scored from play following the free that left the score 1-06 to 0-05 for Warrenpoint. It was up and down the field after that with no scoring advantage to either team. Conor Garvey received a yellow card for a high tackle shortly followed by K Mc Clorey for the same offence. Ryan Boyle hit a wide from 40 yards just before half time to leave the Point four ahead at Half Time. Warrenpoint 1-06 Mayobridge 0-05.
The second half which saw a change of jersey for some Bridge players opened with a greater intensity than the first. Both sides missed chances in front of goal as the play swung from one end to the other it took 8 minutes of play in the second half before Conor Garvey sent over the first point of the half for Mayobridge. A Warrenpoint attack then ended in yet another wide. On the subsequent kick out Warrenpoint gained possession only to give it away with a poor pass. Mayobridge moved the ball quickly forward from their own 20 metre line and a high ball into the danger area was collected by the Bridge full forward and pass to an incoming player who made no mistake and took the game to a draw at 1-06 each. It was the triumphant announcement of a spell of dominance and powerful play from Mayobridge, over the next ten minutes they scored five points without reply from Warrenpoint, who struggled at this part of the game. In truth Mayobridge’s no 14 missed a golden chance of a goal putting wide when a goal seemed certain , there would have been no way back for the Blues had it gone in. A few minutes later Mayobridge drove the ball over the bar from the edge of the square when a goal was on. Warrenpoint were fortunate to be in contention.
Mayobridge lost Collie Quinn to a second yellow card with about 10 minutes to go and in the attack resulting from the free Ryan Mc Aleenen got the first Point score of the second half to leave four points between the teams. Play ebbed and flowed between the two for a few minutes before Mc Garry caught the ball about 25metres out turned and after making few metres took a wonderful shot which rattled the back of the net, only one point between the teams and the game with almost five minutes left was up for grabs.
CJ Barr rallied Mayobridge when he punched the ball over the bar following a good run in towards the Warrenpoint goalmouth two points between the sides now. Ross Mc Garry replied with a well struck free rom 45 metres out back to a one point game. Warrenpoint had two subsequent chances to score but both shots failed to make the target and Mayobridge ended an exciting and entertaining match deserving winners by one point.
Warrenpoint Scores
Ross Mc Garry 1-06, Ruairí Mc Cormack 1-00, Ryan Boyle 0-01, Ryan Mc Aleenen 0-01
