Heart Breaking Result For Mals

Mals skipper Conor McHugh, referee Kenny Jess and Dromara captain James McDonagh

In superb, autumnal sunshine at Dromara, Malachians failed to build on a superb opening twenty minutes when they scored three times without reply and were eventually overhauled and out-muscled in the final quarter of the game to suffer a sickening 4-3 defeat. Missing the influential Collins and with Lowe and McCourt unavailable,  Mals nevertheless opened in positive fashion when a superb cross from the right by the hard working Reilly saw livewire front man McDonnell clearly shoved unceremoniously on the six yard box as he went for the finish , but it was only the second minute of the game and referee Kenny Jess chose to ignore the claims for what looked a stonewall penalty.

Just ten minutes in and Mals were ahead. A corner from the left by McGowan fell nicely inside the box for Mals captain McHugh and his curled effort ended up in the corner for the game’s opening goal. This stung Dromara into action and a surging run from home midfielder Brendan Agnew saw him  nearly go all the way, Roy of the Rovers style, before a final last ditch tackle ended his progress. Fifteen minutes gone and Mals scored again. A great challenge in defence by Hackett won Mals possession and an early ball over the top by McAtee produced a howler from home keeper Paul Rice who completely fluffed his lines and kick leaving the alert McDonnell a simple tap in for his side’s second goal.

On twenty minutes Mals had made it three and it was no more than their play deserved. Great interplay on the left between McGowan and Faulkner saw McDonnell played in and he calmly side footed past the advancing Rice for a cool finish, his second goal and Mals were three goals to the good with only twenty minutes gone. This finally stung the home side into action for the first time in the game and an effort from close range by winger Johnny Jess saw him denied only by a great save from Malachians keeper Stitt.

Mals looked comfortable as the final fifteen of the half arrived and pressure from Dromara increased, with McAtee in midfield and Hackett in defence both catching the eye, but the home side were thrown a precious lifeline just five minutes from the break when centre forward Aaron Thompson won a fifty-fifty challenge on the ground with away keeper Stitt and finished neatly from a narrow angle for his side’s opening goal. Mals midfield captain McHugh was then, harshly in my opinion, shown yellow by referee Jess for what looked like a strong but fair challenge on home fullback O’Gorman as the half ended.

HT: Dromara Village 1 Malachians 3

As the large travelling Mals support applauded the away side back onto the pitch, the prophetic words of coach Collins in the half time dressing room regarding the decisiveness of the opening goal of the half in deciding the outcome of the match, proved unfortunately all too accurate. A great flowing move from Mals in the opening minutes saw McDonnell played in on goal on the right. The exceptional McDonnell selfishly squared for strike partner Faulkner in front of goal just six yards out but he chose to take the chance with the outside of his right foot instead of his left and the ball sliced horribly wide. There is no doubt that if this great chance had been taken, Mals would have gone on to win the match but instead Dromara were first to score in the second period and the rest as they say is history.

The pressure was all now coming from the home side as Mals retreated ever deeper into defence and home winger Jess headed a great chance over as Feighan replaced the hard working McGowan on the left for the away side on sixty minutes. Dromara full back Daniel McKeiran was then next to see yellow for a poor challenge as the home side’s frustrations clearly grew. Twenty minutes from time, despite some heroic defending from the away side, Dromara reduced the deficit to just a single goal when Jess scored and Mals were forced into a change when goal scorer McDonnell was forced off, with a recurrence of a knee injury, to be replaced by the returning Moore.

Dromara were now clearly upping the physical pressure as they chased the game and substitute Brian McIlmurray was booked for another horrendous challenge on the touchline. Jess again went close for the home side with a speculative over head kick. As the game entered the final ten, Dromara equalized. Adams was booked for a heavy challenge on the edge of the Mals box and up stepped home midfielder Stephen Munn to level the game with an exquisite free kick from twenty yards which gave Mals keeper Stitt no chance.

The game was becoming increasingly tetchy as it approached its climax and Feighan was booked for a challenge on fellow substitute McIlmurray. With just seven minutes left Mals hearts were finally broken when the physical McIlmurray was given far too much room on the right and unbelievably allowed to go unchallenged from wide into the box to finish with ease. It was a soft goal to concede the game with, but probably correctly reflected just how disappointingly Mals wilted in the final quarter. Corr replaced McDonagh late on as Mals pushed forward in search of something from the game but the opening never came and the home side were jubilant as the final whistle sounded and Mals, players, managers and supporters alike, were left shell shocked in disbelief at the final result. Undoubtedly this will be a bitter pill for Malachians, as a team and club, to swallow and the challenge for managers Donnelly and Saunders, with the help of coach Collins, will be to get heads up again and up quickly as another difficult game, away to Ards Rangers, looms next week

FT: Dromara Village 4 Malachians 3