Draperstown edged this tense intermediate Cup first round match against Limavady Utd reserves thanks to two well taken goals in the first half. Had Lady luck been on their side, Draperstown would have registered a more comfortable win, having hit the wood work twice when they led 2-0. However the youthful Limavady side certainly had Celtic on the back foot for the last 15 minutes but could not find the crucial equalising goal.
Limavady started brightly, enjoying the greater possession and better passing and both Morrison and Mullan had shots just off target in the opening nine minutes. Celtic took the lead somewhat against the run of play on ten minutes when Murray latched on to Heron’s pass to lob the ball over Ewing to put the home side in front. Limavady responded well and created several half chances which fell to Mullan and Mc Fadden which failed to trouble McConnell in the Draperstown goal. Indeed McFadden should have equalised in the 18th minute but shot over when a goal looked likely.
Celtic took advantage of these misses and doubled their lead when Brendan Heron’s first time shot from the edge of the box just eluded Ewing’s despairing dive to put the home side two goals to the good after 28 minutes. Celtic finished the half well though Wicell did have a penalty claim turned down on 41 minutes.
The second half opened with Celtic being denied twice by the woodwork and both times it was Eamon Murray who suffered. On 50 minutes his wonderful turn and shot beat Ewing who was grateful to see the ball hit the inside of the post and away to safety, while three minutes later, the striker saw his free kick canon off the cross bar and away to safety. A third goal at this stage for Draperstown would probably have sealed a comfortable victory. Indeed Ewing, in the visitor’s goal, also had to save well twice from Gilligan and Higgins before Wicell brought Limavady back into the game with a header on 78 minutes.
The last 12 minutes saw Limavady throw caution to the wind in search of the equaliser and indeed it took a combination of some last ditch Draperstown tackles and solid goal keeping from McConnell to keep efforts from Blair and McQueen out.
In the end, the final whistle signalled Draperstown’s journey into the second round while Limavady can count themselves a little unlucky not to have forced the game into extra time.
