After a tough battle the town eventually came through against an excellent St Matthews team. The Belfast side had put the locals out of the competition last year but Castlewellan gained ample revenge on Saturday.
The Saints started like a house on fire and had Castlewellan on the back foot early on. Their midfield partnership was one of the best that the town have faced for quite some time and it took all Luke Toner and Donagh Steele had to close them down. Both defences were very much on top in the first period and chances were at a premium. The game however exploded into life just five minutes before half time when St Matthews got in behind the home defence for the first time and it took excellent goalkeeping to keep them out. Almost immediately the town took the lead when the visitors defense got themselves in a tangle from their own throw, first to react was Daniel Morgan who sidefooted to the net. Just before the halftime whistle Stevie Trainor’s free kick was parried by the keeper but Morgan blazed the rebound over from close in.
The second half took on a similar pattern, both teams were finding it difficult to dominate midfield and chances were scarce. St Matthew’s must have thought they had equalised on 72 minutes but their striker who had just entered the fray as a substitute saw his excellent effort tipped past with the keeper at full stretch. Moments later the visitors keeper made an equally good save to deny Morgan after a neat move. With time running out the Saints had to push forward but found Castlewellan’s defence pretty much impenetrable. The town were able to exploit all the extra space and scored twice in the last 10 minutes. Firstly Nial Toner released Trainor down the right and his cross was met at the back post by Donagh Steele who slotted home. Three minutes later in an identical move Trainor’s shot from a tight angle was parried by the keeper but again Steele was there to knock home the rebound. St Matthew’s day wasn’t helped when they had their keeper sent off near the end.
All in all Castlewellan have to be happy with beating a good side but apart from the last 15 minutes they played nowhere near their best. In a dogged affair they were well served by John Clarke, Donagh Steele and Donal McKibben.
