We played Fr Caseys in the second round of the west junior football championship in Mick Neville Park on Friday evening. After a convincing win against Cappagh in the first round, confidence was high of a solid performance, even though we were short a number of regulars. The night was very blustery and so the game was going to be the classic “game of two halves”.
We took the advantage of the wind in the first half and after a slightly slow start began to dominate possession but were struggling to create scoring chances. Fr Caseys, whose team were very young and lively, began to run with the ball and carve out some decent chances but were also struggling with scoring in the conditions. Slowly we came more into the game and got the first score of the night. From this we dominated the play but continued to struggle to create chances. Eventually we scored a fortuitous goal from Sean and followed it up with a couple of points. Fr Caseys created a couple of scoring chances but Mark was very alert and made good saves on both occasions. The half time score was Monagea 1-3 Fr Caseys 0-0.
Fr Caseys were expected to dominate the second half but it was Monagea who started best. However, we again failed to score and Fr Caseys grew into the game. Fr Caseys eventually found their range and started to pick off some good points. We continued to take the battle to Fr Caseys and kicked a couple of vital points. Eventually Fr Caseys took the lead after a number of good points and with only three minutes to go, defeat appeared to be our lot. But the high level of confidence from recent wins, kept the team spirits high and they continued to attack. Eventually with only two minutes to go, after some good combination work, Tom went on a mazy run and unleashed an un-stoppable shot to the top left corner. We defended well over the remaining few minutes and scored another point in injury time to seal the win. The final score was Monagea 2-6 Fr Caseys 0-9.
We now play Newcastle west in the final round on the weekend of the 23rd July, but at this point we have guaranteed a place in the west semi-final.
