Bryansburn Rangers welcomed IFA Championship One side Donegal Celtic to Ballywooley on Saturday in the 2nd Round of the WKD Intermediate Cup and were certainly not overawed by the occasion but respectably lost the game four goals to one.
Bryansburn, with a much-changed side to recent weeks with leading scorers Culbert and Tumelty both left on the bench, had the worst possible start. After only a minute a corner was delivered in from the left, the home goalkeeper misjudged the flight of the ball and the big centre forward of DC unmarked headed it into the net.
Full marks to the home side they responded gallantly and took the game to D.C and the team to be fair passed the ball very well and throughout the first half posed the D.C defence many problems. After only ten minutes great hold up play by Barr in the box, he laid the ball off to Graham who unleashed a venomous left foot shot through a crowded penalty area and fortunately for the D.C keeper it was straight at him.
Another great effort this time by McConkey after a well worked corner by Maguire but McConkey’s well driven shot was saved well once again by the visiting keeper low at the near post.
The game at times was well stretched as D.C tried to boss the game and they had two great efforts of their own but Steventon made up for his earlier error as he made two tremendous saves to deny them. Half time 0-1
D.C started the 2nd half on fire when firstly Steventon had to scramble one out for a corner in the 1st minute after the restart and D.C continued to press and showed their superiority by scoring two quick goals on 50 & 55 minutes, which ultimately killed the tie. The first coming when the D.C winger skipped by Graham on the right and delivered a tame cross into the box which quite frankly was poorly dealt with and the big centre forward reacted quicker to poke the ball home for what can only be described as a soft goal.
The 3rd goal however was scored by the substitute Gargin who showed how classy a player he is when he unleashed an unstoppable left foot drive from the left edge of the box which flew past the outstretched Steventon into the far corner of the net.
You would have thought the ‘Burn side would have collapsed under the pressure but to their credit they got themselves together and once again started to play some clever football of their own. Malomo-Paris especially having a good game both defensively and offensively.
On 65 minutes Culbert and Tumelty were now introduced to the game and what an introduction by Culbert. Maguire with an exquisite ball to the edge of the box found Culbert who watched the ball drop over the defenders head and he connected a sublime volley that rifled past the visiting keeper for what was a great individual goal and surely one for the scrap book.
This gave the ‘Burn side a bit of impetus as they tried to muster something from the game. Although D.C were relatively comfortable the Bryansburn attacks were still able to cause the D.C problems but in most of the attacks the D.C keeper was equal to them.
Tumelty was given the best great chance of the half when he was put in on goal wide left but unfortunately his shot went wide and high of the target.
D.C were to have the final say of the day when on 90 minutes Gargin again dropped off the centre forward and delivered a great strike from all of 25 yards which flew past Steventon.
Bryansburn can take a lot of heart from Saturday’s performance but overall they can be pleased with their performances during the first half of the season. No trophies are won at Christmas so it is important that the players realise this and ensure they take this form into 2010 starting with an away game against league favourites Newcastle on 2nd January.
The only other side in action on Saturday were the 4th XI who travelled to Ravenhill YM ll on Saturday and won 4-2.
‘Burn took the field without a recognised keeper and all credit to A.Geddis who volunteered to don the gloves and proceeded to show some safe handling throughout the match. ‘Burn were gifted a great start when the home keeper sliced a clearance straight to Beattie who controlled the ball and sent it back past the custodian and into the net. As the half wore on ‘Burn missed a number of chances to extend their lead while at the other end the home side went close on a number of occasions before A.Geddis dropped a cross and the ball was forced home just before halftime.
In the second half ‘Burn killed the game off with three goals in the space of ten minutes from Thompson, Dempster and J.Geddis making it 4-1. Further chances were missed before Ravenhill finished strongly pulling a goal back and forcing a couple of fine saves out of A.Geddis. ]
There is no training tonight (Thur) or next Thursday 31st but training will be as normal at the Sportsplex on the respective Tuesday nights.
On Boxing Day the Annual Over 30’s managed by Alan Dempster V Under 30’d managed by Campbell Rea will take place. Kick-off at Ballywooley is 1pm.
Fixtures for Saturday 2nd January: 1st XI V Newcastle (a), 2nd XI V Wellington Rec ll (h), 3rd XI V Vision Athletic (a) and 4th XI V Moat Park Rangers ll (a)
