A late headed goal by Glenea United centre-back Dean Gallagher gave his side a share of the points and put a dent in Cappry Rovers quest for the Premier League title of the Donegal League.
Cappry Rovers 2 Glenea United 2
It was an unlikely end to a somewhat unusual evening at Cappry Park as the visitors had to replace their named goalkeeper before kick-off, had to make three substitutions in the opening 25 minutes and then come from behind twice to grab a point.
Glenea Utd were already missing a number of regulars in their match-day squad but when young Shane Mc Clafferty got injured in the pre-match warm-up they had Joe Coll to call upon to take over the goalkeeping duties, not a bad replacement you might say. Indeed Coll’s contribution to this result was massive as he gave a masterclass in all aspects of goalkeeping.
Nine minutes into the game big Dean Gallagher replaced the injured Ryan Mc Fadden and he too would leave his mark on the game about 80 minutes later, much to Cappry’s dismay.
Coll made a fine save to deny the lively Aaron Kelly in the 12th minute but a minute later Darren O Leary’s well struck free-kick was blocked but spelled by Coll and Alan Gethins pounced to force home the rebound to give Cappry a deserved lead.
Glenea made two more substitutions in the 19th and 25th minutes and in between those Coll made an outstanding save when Alan Gethins chip into the danger area was mis- directed by a defender, Coll finger tipped it over the bar.
While Cappry had most of the possession and pressure the visitors were fully committed throughout the pitch , just before the break Trevor Gethins cross found the inrushing Aaron Kelly but his header was too high.
Glenea now had the elements in their favour but the home team continued to dominate, both Aaron Kelly and Paddy Mc Nulty had chances but lost control of the ball and those chances were gone.
Ten minutes into the half it was 1-1, Darren Mc Geever chased a Coll long kick-out from the hands and got his head to the ball and steered it past Eoin Gallen, it was Glenea’s first real chance if you could call it that but Mc Geever did well in his pursuit and execution.
Aaron Kelly shot just wide for Cappry and after both teams had made changes Cappry struck again. Referee Mick Lagan called back play when no advantage ensued after a foul on Paddy McNulty and although the angle was narrow and the ball 25 yards out up stepped full-back Benny Mc Laughlin to hammer home a cracking shot through a maze of bodies to make it 2-1 in the 70th minute.
All over we thought but not so decided Glenea, and on a breakaway young Ciaran Coll did well on the right side and his shot was deflected for a corner.
Nathan O’Brien drove the corner over and big Dean Gallagher rose highest to head home in the 88th minute. Cappry pushed for a vital winner but with Joe Coll in commanding form in the air and on the ground it never arrived and as Cappry team coach Sean Mc Gowan said afterwards, only time will tell if this result constitutes a point won or two points lost.
Cappry are five points behind leaders Kildrum Tigers and two behind Casltefin Celtic but have played a game less than both of those teams.
All three are due to meet one another in the coming weeks but also have other tricky looking tests ahead of them.
We could be going to the wire with this title race!
Cappry Rovers: Eoin Gallen, David Gethins, Brendan McLaughlin , Darren McGowan, Glenn Hamilton ( Joel Bradley-Walsh 72), Conor Scanlon (Gerard Melaugh 65), Trevor Gethins (David Carr 75) , Paddy McNulty , Alan Gethins, Darren O’Leary, Aaron Kelly.
Glenea United: Joe Coll, Conor McGee ( Ciaran Coll 25), Paddy Cannon , Sean Coll (Michael McHugh 19), Ryan McFadden (Dean Gallagher 9), Eugene Maguire (Nathan O’Brien 60), Kyle McMullan, Michael Mulhearn , Gerry Maguire (Kevin McFadden 73), Darren McGeever, Ciaran McGeady .
Referee: Mick Lagan.
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