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DC 3-5 Nortel

November 24, 2008

This Irish Cup second round tie at Cahore Rd. saw a roller coaster of a game. With fourteen minutes left of normal time Draperstown found themselves 3-0 down but fought back to force the game into extra time with a 95th minute equaliser from Darren McKillion only to concede two further goals in this period from which they were not able to recover.

Nortel, like Draperstown have had a poor start to their league campaign and their victory had its element of luck while Celtic contributed to their own downfall with what has to be said was a poor display from them during the first hour of the game. The opening exchanges were even but it was the visitors who opened the scoring in the 16th minute when Butler’s free kick took a wicked deflection off Quinn, leaving McNicholl flatfooted. There was almost an immediate response from Draperstown but Caulfield was unable to get the vital touch from Graffin’s inviting cross. The half hour saw Nortel extend their lead after Conlin stole possession he advanced and shot tamely from 22 yards but McNicholl allowed the shot to squirm from his grasp and into the net and Nortel were firmly in the driving seat.

McLean could have pulled a goal back for Celtic on half time but his header from Quinn’s free went wide. The second half opened badly for Draperstown when Butler was given all the time in the world to score number three and with the home side in apparent disarray, the tie looked well and truly over even at this stage.

Draperstown’s first shot on target came on 59 minutes when Tracey saved very well from McBride and two minutes later, referee Hetherington waved away Celtic appeals for a penalty when Murray appeared to be tripped in the box. By now however Draperstown were determined to go down fighting. All three subs were used and the introduction of Eamonn Burns was a major factor in Celtic getting back into the game. His astute pass on 76 minutes found Murray who was tripped by Bloomfield, the Celtic forward picking himself up to send Tracey the wrong way. Tempers threatened on more than one occasion to get out of hand and several players were cautioned as the temperature of the game was certainly much higher than that of the weather. A foul on the left side of the penalty area gave Burns the opportunity and he drilled the ball home through a ruck of players to ensure a grandstand finish.

The equaliser, in the fifth minute of injury time, saw Quinn’s free kick fall to McKillion who found enough space to slide the ball into the far corner and send the tie into extra time. However it was the visitors who wrapped the game up in the extra 30 minutes. Mulholland fired past McNicholl when Caulfield had been robbed of possession. McBride had a great chance to equalise but delayed and the opportunity was gone. Murray had a header cleared off the line by Doyle before Butler score his second and Nortel’s fifth right at the end of the first period of extra time. Draperstown were unable to put enough pressure on Tracey’s goal in the second half and ultimately paid the price for a very sluggish performance in the first hour of the tie.

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Written by Michael Kelly · Filed Under First Team, News