For the second time this season, Draperstown exited a cup competition at the hands of Newington YC. Earlier the Belfast side had trounced Celtic 7-2 in the Irish Cup and while there was no repeat of that scoreline, Newington were always in control though Draperstown did contribute to their own downfall by some poor defending at times.
The very poor surface, indeed after 20 minutes it may have been deemed unplayable, resulted in a poor game overall. Passing the ball became difficult for both sides but Newington’s overall superiority was quite apparent for most of the game.
They took the lead on 12 minutes when Gary Conway’s attempted clearance only fell to Eamon Lyndsey who scored from close range. Newington doubled their tally when poor defending from a corner allowed Healy to rise unchallenged and head past Martin Farniok in Celtic’s goals.
Draperstown pulled a goal back on 32 minutes when Newington’s keeper, Paul Snodden, hurried his clearance while under pressure from Andy Burns which fell to Eamon Burns who scored from 30 yards.
While Draperstown may have hoped to pull the tie around in the second half they were outdone by poor defending both from simple throw in situations. On both occasions, Cormac Brannigan was able to score from close range headers to seal a comfortable victory for the home side. Eamon Burns almost snatched a consolation goal right at the end but his effort was cleared off the line.
Newington now look forward to playing Portadown in next week’s Irish cup and a quarter final appearance in the Intermediate Cup while for Draperstown it will be back to their league campaign.
