Donacarney make point after a six-goal thriller

DONACARNEY Celtic finished fourth in Group D following a draw at home to Athboy Celtic on Sunday afternoon.

Conditions were far from ideal for football and four goals inside the first 10 minutes testified to that fact.

The hosts finished with 10 men as Athboy scored deep into injury time to ensure a share of the spoils.

Ken Pierce’s side came into the game knowing they needed at least a point to qualify for the Kilmessan Shield competition. Earlier, they had suffered a blow as their result against Johnstown was overturned, meaning fourth was the best they could have hoped for.

However, the hosts found themselves down inside 30 seconds. Athboy kicked off, broke down the wing and a ball across the face of goal was turned home.

From the restart Donacarney retained possession and slowly worked their way up the pitch before winning a free kick outside the box. Aidan Murphy angled a delivery into the box and Jack Tungsted ghosted in at the back post to head home the leveller.

There wasn’t much football being played, but two minutes later Donacarney took the lead. A defence-splitting pass released Graham Duffy and from just inside the box he slipped the ball into the bottom corner.

But the lead didn’t last long and some poor passing across the back four saw Athboy steal in and beat Reece Courtney for a second time.

Following the frantic start both teams appeared cagey and the remainder of the first half passed by without incident.

But a stern talking-to at halftime saw Donacarney change tack and they began to move the ball well in the second half, allowing the ball to do the work rather than trying incisive passes which would go astray.

Ultimately that paid off when Miguel Corsa was played through and be made no mistake from inside the box.

The lead goal saw Donacarney relax more and Athboy never really troubled them from that point. While they created a few more chances there was nothing which troubled the visiting keeper. However, three minutes into injury time they were dealt a blow when Aaron Daly was shown a straight red card. The decision was harsh in the home side’s view as he was standing on the half-way line when he tripped an opposing player going through.

But from that free kick the visitors pumped the ball into the box and the breaking ball wasn’t cleared, allowing Athboy force it home.

Speaking after the game Donacarney manager Pierce said that his aim at the start was to secure third.

‘We have the two best teams in the NEFL in our group, so we knew we wouldn’t finish in the top two and I was hoping for a third-place finish, but we qualified for the Kilmessan Shield and that was our goal.’

They have to wait another week now to see who they will face in the quarter-final as Duleek v Chord Celtic was called off, meaning Group C still has to be completed.

Reece Courtney, Dylan Miles, Jack Tungsted, Noel Miles, Jack Killeen (Gerry Bermingham), Sean Sanders (Eric O’Brien), Aidan Murphy, Miguel Corsa (Ryan Kirby), Aaron Dale, Ryan Kiltey, Graham Duffy (Aaron Daly).