Match Report - Rathgormack 2-2 Kilbarry Rangers

We made the journey to face the returning Rathgormack where we looked to add more points on to the board.

We took the lead when Daniel Mihalache raced down the left wing and when approaching goal he was taken out from behind and the referee pointed to the spot. It was Ben Hogan who stepped up and he made no mistake with a convincing strike to put us 1-0 up.

We doubled our lead in emphatic fashion when some quick thinking from Tom O’Donnell and Dan Lye out from the back got Harry Ruddle on the ball and he played a beautifully weighted pass in behind for Cian Kervick to latch on to and he calmly placed the ball beyond the keeper for 2-0.

Rathgormack pulled one back when some good link up play down our left managed to get the ball into the striker and despite a good save from Tom O’Donnell the rebound was put in for 2-1.

Rathgormack equalized with the last play of the half when a terrific ball in was met by their striker who knocked the ball down and was then put in after a scramble to make the game level, however we can’t help but feel very disappointed this goal stood as Tom on goal was met by an extremely heavy challenge with the ball in his hands in mid air.

Despite that we were determined to try and pick ourselves up and lift the intensity levels to try and pick up the win. The second half was a scrappy affair though with both sides having a few chances to win the game. Cian Kervick notably produced two good saves from the keeper and at the other end Tom made a great save late on getting down to his opposite side. Those were just some the chances for both sides but in the end the points were shared.

We probably felt we could have been more clinical and also could have played better to win the game but all in all not a bad point in a tough place against a good side. Still plenty of work to be done but not the worst start to the season overall after three crazy games.

Congratulations also to Rathgormack FC making their return to the Waterford Junior League today. Not an easy task we know but good to see more teams in the league again.