First Castlewellan Goalscorer:- Jason Croskery
Castlewellan kept their title hopes alive with a hard fought draw away to table toppers Shamrock last Saturday and they will be relieved to have come away with a point as they produced a lacklustre performance.
In a niggly game there wasn’t much time on the ball with some of the tackling over robust to say the least, there was a strong referee though and he kept a lid on things as they threatened to get out of hand.
Early exchanges were fairly even with neither goalkeeper seriously tested. The very narrow pitch didn’t help either side and unsurprisingly the town were particularly affected by this as their opponents are used to the confined space.
Shamrock took the lead with an own goal after 33 minutes when a header inside the box was deflected past Rory Burns by the unfortunate Barry Travers. Things got a little tastier after this score and the ref booked four Shamrock players in a 10 minute period. Fortunately the Town kept their discipline and were rewarded 5 minutes before the break when Jason Croskery blasted home a direct free kick from 20 yards. One each at half time was probably about right.
Shamrock upped the tempo even more in the second period recognising the importance of the result and put the Town defence under increasing pressure. It came as no surprise when they regained the lead via the penalty spot when one of their tricky forwards was upended in the area. They should have increased their lead shortly after when the same player inexplicably shot wide of a completely open goal. The Town used all their substitutes in a bid to regain control and this had the desired effect with Steele, Fitzsimmons and Burns slotting in seamlessly. Although Castlewellan were having more of the game now after Shamrock’s initial onslaught they received a let off when Rory Burns raced from his goal to stop an attacker right through on goal, stop him he did but appeared to handle outside the area which should have been a free kick and could have been a red card. Neither was awarded however and with 8 minutes left the town restored parity when a superb cross from Croskery was slotted home at the back post by Sean Fitzsimmons. In the final minutes both defences held out and in the end Castlewellan will be the happier getting a point despite playing below recent levels.
The narrow pitch seemed to flumox the locals who couldn’t spread the ball as they like to do. It was akin to 4 rugby forwards trying to get to sleep in a two man tent, it just wasn’t happening and there could be no suggestion that the unavailable Jarosinski would have made any difference, as he thrives on space. Certainly Castlewellan are in a great position but need to remain focussed in the coming weeks.
