Drama as Glens earn draw with late strike
Dramatic climax as equaliser is scored in 98th minute
GLENCORMAC UNITED 2
GREYSTONES UNITED B 2
AN exciting game was meandering to a Greystones victory before a chaotic last 15 minutes turned this encounter on its head.
For 85 minutes it was a looking like a hard-earned victory for Greystones with goals from Oisin Keogh and Josh Davenport giving them an advantage, then referee Dominic Lauchesse took centre stage.
Firstly he sent off Jason Healy for a last man tackle, then awarded Glencormac a dubious penalty that Josh O’Callaghan converted before more drama saw Mark Delahunty with a goal chalked off for offside, a contentious hand ball on the line before Nathan Waters struck with the last kick of the game in the 98th minute of play to earn the home side a point.
Greystones started brightly and dominated possession and territory early on.
With Oisin Keogh and Ben Traynor causing havoc down the right they penned Glencormac into their half for the first 20 minutes of the game.
Jason Healy operating in a withdrawn number 10 role was dictating play and they completely bossed the early stages.
Early efforts by Davenport, Jake Kelly and Healy just missed the target for the visitors.
On 14 minutes a delicate through ball by Healy saw him free Jake Kelly who swiftly turned inside and he was taken down by a trailing leg from a Glencormac defender giving referee Lauchesse no choice other than to award a penalty.
Up stood centre forward Keith Sutherland to send Glencormac keeper Ash O’Callaghan the wrong way but unfortunately for him he hit the outside of the post.
This reprieve seemed to stun Glencormac into action and driven on by brothers Luke and Ben O’Callaghan they got a foothold.
Ex Rathnew player John Dunleavy had two decent efforts for the hosts.
The first flashing across the Greystones goal, the second well smothered by keeper Bartosz Stenka.
Nathan Waters also had an effort well saved by Stenka when he perhaps had more time than he thought.
A back and forth encounter saw Greystones with good chances spurned by Sutherland and Healy and Glencormac with long distance shots from Luke O’Callaghan and Waters not testing Stenka.
The teams retired to half-time with no further chances.
Greystones sent on star player and ex Glencormac player Mukoro Gbereubie at half-time and his speed and skill made an immediate impact on proceedings.
Firstly, a jinking run through the home side’s defence saw his effort parried by O’Callaghan; the follow up shot by Kelly was acrobatically tipped over by the scrambling keeper.
Glencormac continued to threaten, mainly from dead balls, with Paul Devlin guilty of some missed openings.
Eventually the goal the game deserved came.
A bouncing ball towards Healy saw him flick over his shoulder to Greystones dangerman Keogh who one on one with the onrushing O’Callaghan made no mistake with a beautifully clipped finish beyond the keeper.
On 70 minutes the visitors doubled their advantage, that man Healy delivered a driven corner into the area and Josh Davenport bulleted a header past the Glencormac keeper.
Glencormac laid siege to the Greystones goal and it lived a charmed life.
Chances came and went. It just did not look like the hosts day till the chaotic closing stages.
Glencormac had powerful displays by the O’Callaghan brothers and Waters, Greystones were inspired by Healy and Traynor but man of the match in this writer’s opinion was Oisin Keogh who was a constant thorn in Glencormacs side.
GLENCORMAC UNITED: 1. Ashley O’Callaghan, 2. Stephen Kirwan, 3. Mark Delahunty, 4. Luke O’Callaghan, 5. Sean Holly, 6. Mick Rooney, 7. John Dunleavy,
8. Ben O’Callaghan, 9. Nathan Waters, 10. Paul Devlin, 11. Barry McGovern. Subs: 12. Alan Hill, 13. Owen Molloy, 14. Dave Kelly,
15. Sam O’Callaghan, 16. Simon Doyle.
GREYSTONES UNITED: 1. Bartosz Sten- ka, 2. Ben Traynor, 3. Stephen McCann,
4. Eoin Darcy, 5. Eoin Corrigan, 6. Dave Molloy, 7. Oisin Keogh, 8. Josh Davenport,
9. Keith Sutherland, 10. Jason Healy, 11. Jake Kelly. Subs: 12. Kevin O’Rourke, 13. Mukoro Gbereubie, 14. Shane McCormack, 15. Sean Traynor.
REFEREE: D. Lauchesse