Solid display earns Rock some relief
BATTLING Rock earned their first point of the season at Sandy Lane on Friday night in this their eight game. THE draw represented a marked improvement from when the teams met earlier in the season when they suffered a five-nil trouncing at the hands of the cup holders.
At this stage the result is welcome but the Seasiders need to start winning if they are to move off the bottom of the table and stand any chance of avoiding relegation.
Still for beleaguered manager Robert Cosgrove with his side five points adrift of second last Kingscourt entering the match it is a step in the right direction. He will be pleased with the spirit shown by a team that changes from week to week, and no more than in defence where a settled set of defenders could be crucial to plotting a survival route.
It won’t help that his most experienced defender Conor Rafferty was sent-off for a second time this season, and faces missing a number of games.
His dismissal came at a critical point in the game. Ed Maguire was fouled to win a penalty kick for Rock, and as David Ward waited to take the kick, a schemozzle broke out on the edge of the Trim 18 yard line involving practically every player on the pitch.
Referee Brendan Gillespie then produced a red card to a Trim player and Rafferty, reducing both teams to ten players after less than a half a hour.
Ward in a very hot vein of scoring form, held his composure to confidently despatch the penalty to the net. He also nabbed their second goal to take his tally to nine in three games, and if anybody can inspire Rock to pull off another great escape from relegation like three seasons ago it will be the former Dundalk man.
Rock were probably more unsettled by the dismissals than Trim, having to re-adjust an already re-constructed defence, and Trim seized upon the confusion to equalise five minutes later.
Ward was terribly unlucky not to score again when he was released inside the penalty box at the end of a delightful move, only to see his shot hit the inside of the post.
Trim took hold of the play after the break, and Rock were vulnerable at the back and were too easily cut open for the visitors to take the lead just before the hour mark.
Rock had also a let-off when Trim struck the post and had goalkeeper Paul Scanlon to thank to remain still in the game with a number of invaluable saves, one marvellous effort when he was completely exposed.
Dessie McKeown was the main rallying force as the Seasiders launched a fightback, showing great determination and example to his teammates.
He combined with Ward to secure the precious point. Ward harried a defender to win possession on the edge of the Trim box and McKeown unselfishly rolled the ball back across the face of goal for Ward to steer it low into the corner of the net with under 20 minutes remaining.
McKeown then played a vital role for the Seasiders to hold on with their other starting central defender Garry Lennon going off injured. McKeown took over from him, and with his strength and aerial ability won nearly every tussle as the home defence was put through a searching test in the closing stages. ROCK: Paul Scanlon, Paddy Reilly, Garry Lennon (Mark Hanna 83), Conor Rafferty, Brendan Rogers, Paddy Connor (Liam O’Callaghan 59), Ed Maguire, David Ward, Kitzito (Jamie McCaul 74), Derek Delany, Dessie McKeown.