O’Neill the hero as Olympic and Desertmartin see out draw
Desertmartin Swifts 3
Cookstown Olympic 3
Cookstown Olympic, sponsored this season by Moe’s Bar, Cookstown, got their league campaign underway on Friday 24th August when they made the short journey to play local rivals Desertmartin Swifts. After a tight encounter both teams had to settle for a point after a three all draw.
In the fifth minute Olympic got the first shot on goal when a Conor O’Hare effort was saved by the Desertmartin keeper, while 6 minutes later Desertmartin has the ball in the net only for it to be disallowed for a handball.
On 15 minutes however Desertmartin did take the lead when confusion between the Olympic keeper and defender saw the ball eventually forced over the line by Nicky Brown. Olympic grabbed an equaliser after 24 minutes from a Jonny O’Neill corner that was cleared but headed back in where a Paul McVey shot was saved and put in the air for Ryan O’Neill to head home.
Cookstown then hit a purple patch of form with five minutes of the half left going two one up after 42 minutes with Jonny O’Neill linking up the line to brother Ryan and his square ball to Ryan Devlin saw the striker fire past the Desertmartin keeper. On 44 minutes Ryan Devlin broke down the left side and pulled the ball back to Ruairi Scullion 20 yards out and he sent a powerful first time shot curling into the top corner.
In the second half Cookstown had the first attempt on goal after 47 minutes as Ryan Devlin squared for Ryan O’Neill but his shot was well saved. The game then steadied to a midfield battle until the 60th minute when a mishit Cookstown clearance saw Desertmartin cross to the back post but their forward hit the side netting.
Desertmartin then hit a run of form that saw them pull it back to 3-2 after 65 minutes when from a corner the ball bounced around the six yard area before being finished through a number of bodies by Glen Wilson.
Cookstown were on the back foot and conceded another corner on 69 minutes which saw an unopposed header for Desertmartin to draw level at 3-3 through Davie Anderson.
Olympic weathered this storm and had the next chance after 78 minutes when Ryan O’Neill drove a shot over the bar but the match could have turned after 83 minutes after the award to Desertmartin of a hotly disputed penalty but Olympic keeper Jamie O’Neill saved the spot kick from Mark Junkin. Indeed the visitors could also have claimed all three points on 88 minutes when Connor O’Reilly put Nigel Johnston away on a run but his shot just went wide.
Olympic: Jamie O’Neill, E McSloy, L Mullan, Jonny O’Neill, C O’Reilly, P McVey, M Meenan, C O’Hare, R Scullion, R Devlin, R O’Neill. Subs M O’Hare and N Johnston.
On Saturday September 1 Cookstown Olympic will entertain Tobermore United Reserves while on Saturday 8 they will travel to play 3rd Ballyclare Old Boys, both of these league matches then on Saturday 15th September it will be an away trip to play Ballyclare North End in the first round of the Crawford Cup.
NEW FOOTBALL STRIP
Cookstown Olympic FC would like to thank Moes Bar, Cookstown for the provision of a new playing strip for the 2012/2013 season. The strip was handed over during the week and the squad were able to play in it for their first match of the new season.
Moes Bar will also be providing after match hospitality for Cookstown Olympic and their visiting opponents after each home match this season.
TRAINING
Training will now continue on the synthetic pitch at MUSA each Thursday from 7pm sharp.
FUNDRAISING
The club will resume their weekly lottery draw with tickets available from team and committee members from this week onwards. The first prize will be £250 for 4 correct numbers with a £30 prize or share for those matching three numbers if the main draw is not won.
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Weather for Dungannon
Tuesday 18 June 2013
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 20 C
Wind Speed: 12 mph
Wind direction: North west
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 18 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: North west
