There were no complaints about the entertainment on offer at the Bann Road venue last Saturday as Castlewellan and Killough fought out an enthralling 4-4 draw. In difficult underfoot conditions it was a game that Killough could have won but really Castlewellan should have won. Both sides are to be applauded for their efforts, however the town will view this as two points dropped as they were leading 2 minutes into injury time and were pegged back, just as they had been in the fixture in Killough at the end of September when another last minute goal deprived them of all three points.
Both sides started briskly and the visitors found themselves 1 up after only 4 minutes when with the town’s defence asleep the unmarked Matt McKernan volleyed home from a corner. Stung by this Castlewellan retaliated and thought they had equalised straight away with a Keown header, the referee gave the goal but the linesman saw an infringement that nobody else in the ground saw and the goal was disallowed. Play was swinging from end to end but after their previous lapse the town’s defence again shot themselves in the foot and after 25 minutes were guilty of playing too much football in a dangerous area instead of clearing their lines and they were punished by Adam George with a clinical finish. Stevie Trainor threw the home side a lifeline on 31 minutes with a header following a long throw from Corrigan. Unbelievably Castlewellan conceded a third goal after 38 minutes following yet another defensive calamity, this time the beneficiary was Freddie O’Connor who couldn’t believe his luck as the home defence parted like the Red Sea allowing him a free run on goal. Straight from the kick off though the Town pulled a goal back when a Steele effort was parried by the keeper and the predatory Paddy Keown dispatched to the net. On the stroke of half time Stevie Trainor headed home for the second time bringing 45 minutes of breathless action to an end.
If anyone thought that the second half couldn’t be as entertaining as the first they were mistaken although this time around Castlewellan took a leaf out of Killough’s book and cleared their lines if there was any danger. The home team went ahead for the first time in the match after 47 minutes when from another long throw Keown nipped in front of the Killough defence to flick the ball to the net. Whilst both sides had their chances the defences were now a lot tighter and clear chances were at a premium. On 67 minutes Castlewellan replaced Trainor who had a marvelous game and on came Daniel Morgan. The town almost extended their lead on 72 minutes when Dean saw a shot brilliantly saved by the Killough goalie, his parry fell to the feet of Keown who normally gobbles those chances up but this time his shot hit the base of the post and was cleared. Controversy reared it’s head after 79 minutes when Steele picked up a through ball beat Stranney for pace and raced clear with only the keeper to beat, Paddy Keown who wasn’t near the action was in an offside position but not interfering with play, the linesman however seemed to panic and waved for offside. It was truly a disgraceful decision and when young Donagh finished to the net the referee booked him, supposedly for kicking the ball away, he had been booked previously so was shown the red card. It was very harsh on Donagh as he did nothing wrong and was most definitely onside as it all happened right in front of me. Killough knew they had got out of jail with that decision and piled on the pressure but time was running out for them. McIlhone saw a header go narrowly over on 88 minutes and with 90 minutes up the town’s Colm Flanagan went on a mazy dribble before unleashing a powerful strike that was miraculously tipped against the post by Killough’s colourful keeper, that would clearly have sealed it for Castlewellan but there was a sting in the tail when with one final push and already 2 minutes of injury time gone a right wing cross was headed goalwards by Groves and it crept in agonisingly at the far post to give Killough a point and bring what was the best game I have seen this season to a conclusion.
The result sees both teams still in the hunt for the Premier title but Castlewellan feel very aggrieved at the ‘Steele’ incident which was clearly a horrendous error on the part of the linesman, forcing the Town to play out the remaining 12 minutes with 10 men. The league are to be applauded for their decision to appoint a full compliment of officials for a game of this magnitude but they should make sure in future that both linesmen are of the ‘experienced’ variety.
Paddy Keown’s header goes just over on this occasion and below Stevie Trainor equalises on the stroke of half time
