Match Report 310819 – Dollingstown 0 v Lisburn Distillery 1
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Saturday 31st August 2019
Bluefin Sports Premier Intermediate League
Dollingstown 0 v Lisburn Distillery FC
With the recent withdrawal of Lurgan Celtic from the league a few weeks back and the subsequent reduction of the number of league games for each side to 20 games, victory on a consistent basis has all of a sudden became even more important for every side in every game in the Premier Intermediate league this season.
With this in mind the Whites made the journey to Planter’s Park knowing it is was imperative to bring the three points home albeit against a much improved Dollingstown side who would have gone into the game buoyant following their defeat earlier this week of neighbours Portadown in the League cup.
The Whites started the game brightly and indeed had a great chance to take the lead as early as the third minute when Kevin Braniff fed in a perfect pass to Michael O’Hanlon and his delightful cross into Daire Rooney saw forward force the home goalkeeper Steven Maguire into a smart stop blocking the goal bound effort with his outstretched legs.
After this the hosts settled somewhat although chances were at a minimum however the Whites did have a lucky escape on 20 minutes when James Wright overhit his back pass and Distillery ‘keeper Jonah Nicholl had to be alert chesting the ball onto the ground and away to safety despite the best efforts of the home attack. Nicholl again was forced into action on 32 minutes when Dollingstown’s Richard Thompson made a driving run into the box before firing a firm shot towards the goal but the visiting keeper got down well to save.
4 minutes later with the hosts now slightly in the ascendency they had another great chance this time from Ryan Gourley but his effort went into the side netting much to the visiting supports relief.
Distillery themselves then had a decent chance on 40 minutes to take a lead into the break when, following a total mix up in the home defence, Rooney found himself free albeit wide in the penalty box. With defenders scampering back to block any chance Rooney opted to try a cheeky lob but on this occasion he lofted it too high and the ball dropped onto the roof of the net.
0-0 then going into the second half with both sides creating half chances before the deadlock was eventually broken in the 68th minute. Sheer determination by Braniff pulled the Dollingstown defence all over the show and with two incoming Distillery attackers piling into the box it looked like he would try to find them with a cross but instead of that he opted to lob the ball towards the unguarded goal with ball dropping just under the bar and into the net. Dollingstown defenders held their heads in disbelief as the Distillery players and supporters celebrated.
The deadlock had been broken and with that the visitors opted to take on a more defensive shape the Whites relying on hopefully striking on a break. This allowed Dollingstown to press although with a few exceptions they created little other than shots from distance although to be fair they were unlucky not to level when Captain Aaron Moffett headed onto the post from a corner with only minutes left to play.
A big three points then for Distillery and a great way to start the new campaign.
Match report by Colin Hopkins
LDFC Line-up: Nicholl, Byrne, Long, Curley, Stewart, O’Hanlon, Harris (C), D.Rooney, Braniff, McCaw, Wright
Subs: Getty (for Curley), Young (for Wright), McAlea (for D.Rooney), Beta, Nesbitt
David Hunter’s full picture gallery from this game can be found on our Flickr page @ https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGDjmWe
31st August 2019. Bluefin Sport Premier Intermediate League. Dollingstown 0 Lisburn Distillery 1 at Planters Park. Picture COPYRIGHT David Hunter.
31st August 2019. Bluefin Sport Premier Intermediate League. Dollingstown 0 Lisburn Distillery 1 at Planters Park. Picture COPYRIGHT David Hunter.
