RAPHOE SUFFERED their first League defeat of the season on Saturday, the Donegal side going down to established Premier League side Kilkeel.
Raphoe 1 Kilkeel 3
Raphoe kept giving the ball away cheaply in the first fifteen minutes and it was from one such instance that allowed Kilkeel take the lead – Raphoe gave the ball away cheaply just inside their own half and Kilkeel broke up the field quickly, they easily rounded the last defender and sent a reverse stick shot past Rankin and into the bottom right hand corner.
Raphoe upped their game after this and a bit more composure on the ball saw them create several chances of their own.
Vincent Devenney was unlucky not to score when he got on the end of an Ian McGonigle cross his deflection just cleared the crossbar with the keeper beaten.
Just before half time Raphoe won a couple of short corners in quick succession but both efforts from the top of the circle were well dealt with by the Kilkeel defence.
Raphoe upped the ante at the start of the second half and equalised within the first five minutes – great build up play in the middle of the pitch saw Kit Regan feed the ball through the Kilkeel defence for Stephen Cleverley to finish neatly by flicking the ball over the advancing ‘keeper.
Having got back into the game Raphoe seemed to take foot off the gas and allowed Kilkeel to settle back into the game.
Kilkeel won a soft short corner midway through the half and from this they took the lead – a shot from the top of the circle went through the legs of Rankin, hit the right hand post and was tapped home at the other post by an alert Kilkeel forward.
At the other end Alan Lyttle received the ball wide on the left, he waltzed past a couple of Kilkeel defenders into a good position but he scuffed his shot and the keeper easily cleared.
Kilkeel doubled their lead with ten minutes remaining from another short corner, Rankin again saved the initial shot but a weak effort from the rebound somehow found its way past Rankin’s left hand glove and into the net.
With time running out Raphoe again tried to up their game and Lyttle again found himself in a good position after getting down the byline behind the Kilkeel defence but there was no one making an effort to get on the end of his cross and the ball was easily cleared.
Vincent Devenney than had a strong shot saved by the legs of the keeper in the final few minutes.
This was Raphoe’s first defeat in the league this season and this week they travel to league leaders Instonians with a 1pm push back.
Raphoe: Johnny Rankin, William Kilpatrick, Alexander Tinney, Alan Meehan, Ben Wallace, Ian McGonigle, Kit Regan, George Patterson, Keith Meehan, Luke Witherow, Alan Lyttle, Stephen Cleverley, Paul Stewart, Vincent Devenney. Coach: Rodney Bates. Manager: Richard Eaton.
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