Dromina and Harbour must go again

Dromina 2-12 Harbour Rovers 0-18

DROMINA and Harbour Rovers will have to meet again after they finished in stalemate following a gripping contest at Buttevant on Friday evening.

Despite the sides being level for the second time at 0-2 apiece after seven minutes it was the champions for the last two years Harbour Rovers that dictated matters entirely from here to the break with Stephen Dunne, Philip Blackburne, Sean Finn, Brian Gallagher, Dave Pyne, Stephen Condon, Shane O’Riordan and their keeper Martin Jackson in splendid form.

Wave after wave of attack resulted in some excellent scores that helped open up a commanding 0-11 to 0-3 lead by the 25th minute. Dromina now faced an uphill battle. They reeled off two points in quick succession by Richard Morrissey and David Jones to give themselves a lifeline.

In injury time Harbour Rovers completed the first half scoring when a puckout by Martin Jackson found Dave Pyne who scored a great point as they held a fully deserved 0-12 to 0-5 interval lead.

For the second half Dromina threw caution to the wind. They introduced a number of substitutions who played a major part in their second half revival. Both sides exchanged an early point before Kevin Hayes was denied a goal when the Rovers keeper Martin Jackson made a vital save off the line.

At the other end Harbour Rovers missed a chance to seal the issue in the 43rd minute when a penalty by Stephen Condon went wide.

Moments later they were forced to plan ahead with fourteen players when they had one of their forwards dismissed for a second yellow card offence.

Dromina capitalised greatly from here and they shaded matters for rest of the game with Paddy Hassett, Paddy Burke, David Jones, Johnny Delee, the Hayes and Buckley brothers excelling.

Points by David Jones and Paddy Burke were followed by a well taken goal by David Jones in the 53rd minute 0-14 to 1-9. In a thrilling finish a great solo run by Brian Buckley resulted in a long range point by Johnny Delee.

Harbour Rovers steadied the ship when Stephen Condon pointed a free to move two clear. However, back came Dromina and they took the lead in their next attack when a movement involving Ger Hayes, Paddy Burke, Johnny Delee and Pat Hayes saw Diarmuid Buckley billow the net 2-10 to 0-15.

Dromina were also down to 14 players at this stage but they moved two clear when Diarmuid Buckley pointed in injury time. Harbour Rovers refused to give up their title easily.

Stephen Condon with two frees got them back on partly deep in stoppage time. In one last twist Dromina looked to have snatched victory when Ger Hayes set up his brother Pat for a point. Back again came Harbour Rovers and a long range free by Stephen Condon ensured a draw was a fitting result.

The replay takes place on August 15.

DROMINA: K O’Callaghan, M Finn, B Bowles, B Naughton, P Hassett, G Hayes, J Jordan, B Buckley 0-1, J O’Shaughnessy, P Burke 0-1, D Buckley 1-2, P Hayes 0-1, M Naughton, D Jones 1-4 (0-2f) K Hayes 0-1 Subs: R Morrissey 0-1 for P Burke (inj) J O’Connor for M Finn, P Burke for M Naughton, J Delee 0-1 for J O’Shaughnessy, J Finn for K Hayes

HARBOUR ROVERS: M Jackson, J Landers, B O’Keeffe, S Dunne, P Blackburn, S Finn, E O’Donoghue, T Condon, P Hannon 0-1, S O’Riordan 0-2, D Pyne 0-4, B Gallagher, J O’Sullivan 0-1, J Coughlan, S Condon 0-10 (0-9f) Subs: D Gallagher for J O’Sullivan, A Sheehan for J Coughlan, C Dennehy for E O’Donoghue

REFEREE: Colm Maher (Buttevant)