Murphy makes his point for Bay

LOURDES CELTIC BAY FC

2 2

A cold morning right down near the Boyne was the setting for this third division encounter with much at stake. A win would have taken Lourdes above Bay, who likewise needed the points to keep the pressure on league leaders Virginia.

Lourdes started the better holding onto the ball well and taking pot shots at ‘keeper Kevin Mullen but didn’t register any on target. Bay’s first and only effort on target was by Ciaran Boland after 20 minutes. His rasping drive stung the keepers’ hands low to his right.

The opener came five minutes later when a dangerous cross was met by a Lourdes strikers head and the ball sailed into the top corner. That was how the score stood at the break.

Again Lourdes had more of the ball early in the second half, but like the first period failed to properly test keeper Mullen whose defence dealt with anything Lourdes threw at the visitors.

Bay started to get a foothold in the game with 10 minutes gone with a visibly tired Lourdes defence struggling to deal with the visiting strikers and midfield running onto them. But like Lourdes they failed to test the Lourdes goalkeeper.

Against the run of play Lourdes broke on the counter attack and a ball into the box was again met by a striker with his head and with no challenge he finished simply into the bottom corner.

Looking dead and buried Bay rallied with 15 minutes to go. Paddy Kehoe was hauled down in the box for a penalty which Anton Webb dispatched clinically to make it eight goals in his last eight games.

With Lourdes wasting plenty of time as it neared the 90 minute mark it was fitting that the equalizer came deep into injury time. Ciaran Boland helped on a Robbie Murphy cross across the six yard box for David McCartney’s shot to be saved by the keeper only for the rebound to fall to Robbie Murphy who rolled the ball into the far corner to take a share of the spoils back down the M1 to Dundalk.

The result leaves Bay with a game in hand on Virginia which is this Friday against Kells in Muirhevnamor, kick-off 8.15pm when a win would bring them within three points of the leaders. BAY Kevin Mullen, Robbie Rafferty, Paddy Kehoe, Angelo Stanley, Paddy McShane, Kevin Scollon (David McCartney 65), Robbie Murphy, Paul Clarke, Ciaran Boland, Anton Webb, Ciaran Murphy (Damien Bailey 45).