THE STORY OF THIS game centred on six mad added minutes at the end, during which most of the relevant detail was played out in a Foxhall downpour.
Glenswilly 3-3 Bundoran 1-7
The teams were deadlocked, 1-3 to 0-6, with the 60 minutes played and Bundoran down to 13 men after Ciaran McCaughey and Christy Keaney were both booked twice.
Photo caption: All hands to the pump as Glenswilly and Bundoran battle it out at the bitter end of the AllSportStore.com All-County Football League Division 1 fixture at Foxhalls. Photo: Geraldine Diver
Glenswilly had received a lifeline in the form of a Shane McGowan own goal early in the second half, but the wasteful home side look to have kicked away a first win of the season.
[adrotate group=”59″]But in those chaotic, bizarre and messy last six minutes, the narrative of an otherwise uneventful contest changed utterly.
Referee Liam McConigley was under the microscope at both ends, but it was particularly Bundoran who left feeling hard done by. And their feelings weren’t without merit, either.
It hadn’t been a game of many stoppages and just where the six minutes arrived from was perplexing.
Eamonn Ward slide in Glenswilly’s second goal with four minutes of added time played and, with the final act of the night, Paddy McFadden snatched a first League victory of 2016 for the home side.
By then, Paul Brennan was black carded, just after a delightful Jamie Brennan point looked to have won it, again, for the visitors.
Midfielder McCaughey walked a tightrope having been booked in the first half and he was first to be handed a red, 17 minutes into the second half, to accompany a second yellow.
Keaney followed in the final minute of normal time, but the 13 men stole a real march when Tommy Hourihane, with a deft flick of his right arm, wonderfully steered Paul Brennan’s pass beyond James Gallagher for a Bundoran goal.
Glenswilly squandered 12 scoring chances on the night, including what appeared routine frees for Brian Farrelly and Gerard McGrenra.
But they dramatically drew level when McGrenra’s hooked ball into the mixer was steered home by full-back Ward.
Jamie Brennan steadied the wobbles of the visitors, but there was yet more drama. After another McGrenra free trailed off target, Glenswilly won a ’45 and Ciaran Bonner’s ball in caused panic.
In a crowded, alarmed goalmouth, McFadden somehow forced over the line for the winning score.
[adrotate group=”48″]It was a night that left a sour taste for the visitors and it was referee McConigley who found himself as the car park’s talking point.
For the hosts, it will hardly matter given that they got out of jail big time, eight days out from their Championship opener with Ardara.
Glenswilly still have the likes of Michael Murphy, Neil Gallagher to return to their ranks while Gary McFadden had a watching brief for this one following his sending off in the derby defeat to Termon two weeks ago.
Their spark fired briefly after the break. With barely a minute gone in the second half, Bonner’s dropping free was slapped past Conor Carty by the unfortunate Shane McGowan, under pressure from the in-rushing Christopher McMonagle.
Darragh Hoey had put Bundoran in front in the first minute of the game, but Glenswilly drew level when Philip O’Donnell – playing at full-forward having won a Colleges All-Star for his exploits in the Sigerson Cup as DCU’s goalkeeper – popped over a free.
Caoimhin Marley stroked over from distance to put Glenswilly in front and Marley turned provider for Darren McGinley to drill over from the right-hand side.
Bundoran hit three points in a row to take a 0-4 to 0-3 interval lead.
[adrotate group=”12″]Alan Russell collected a loose ball after Peter McGonigle’s driving run was halted and Hourihane, in space, evened things up with Russell putting the visitors in front on 29 minutes.
There was a real scare for Glenswilly when Hourihane flashed a shot-cum-cross across the face of goal after being fed by Michael McEniff when a Gallagher kick-out was intercepted.
They managed to survive – but only just.
And as they went into the night it was the man in red who was at the centre of the attention.
Glenswilly: James Gallagher; Paddy McFadden (1-0), Eamonn Ward (1-0), Aidan McDevitt; Oisin Crawford, Caoimhinn Marley (0-1), Cormac Callaghan; Ciaran Bonner, Cathal Gallagher; Paddy Diver, Darren McGinley (0-1), Joe Gibbons; Christopher McMonagle, Philip O’Donnell (0-1, 1f), Brian Farrelly. Sub: Ciaran Gibbons for Diver (37), Gerard McGrenra for Farrelly (50).
Bundoran: Conor Carty; Niall McGonigle, Diarmuid McCaughey, Johnny Boyle; Darragh Hoey (0-1), Paul Brennan, Shane McGowan (1-0, og); Ciaran McCaughey, Peter McGonigle; Michael McEniff (0-1), Alan Russell (0-2), Jamie Brennan (0-2); Tommy Hourihane (1-1), Christy Keaney, Niall Dunne. Sub: Pauric Rooney for N.McGonigle (23), Barry McGowan for Rooney (58), Rooney for P.Brennan (65, black card).
Referee: Liam McConigley (Downings).
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