Eoin Rooney notched his 50th goal of the season with another brace against Lisburn Youth, click on the link below to find out how he scored…
Saturday 28th March – Lisburn Invitational League under 14’s
Downpatrick FC 4 v Lisburn Youth 2
On a very blustery day, a very strong wind was blowing straight down the pitch. Downpatrick were playing with the wind in the first half, with Lisburn happy to sit on the edge of their box and defend. After 3 minutes Downpatrick made a breakthrough when Kian Tierney controlled the ball on the left side of the box, he played the ball out to Declan Looney on the edge of the box, he unleashed a rasping drive into the bottom corner giving the Lisburn keeper no chance.
As the half wore on Lisburn got back into the game, Downpatrick struggled to control the ball in the middle of the park. On 20 minutes Lisburn broke down the left side, the Downpatrick defence didn’t cope with the early cross, the Lisburn striker levelled the game giving Shane Campbell no chance. After the restart Downpatrick started to put their foot on the ball and find a few passes.
On 28 minutes Downpatrick won a corner, which Ruairi Quinn sent to the back post for Tom Smyth to tower over everyone and head his side back into the lead. Moments later Downpatrick won a free kick on the halfway line, which Caolain Logue directed straight at the keeper, he made a save and forced another corner which Lisburn cleared. Just before halftime Logue again had another free kick although about 15 yards closer to the Lisburn goal, this time he shot and the Lisburn keeper made a great save onto the post, but Eoin Rooney reacted first to head home to increase Downpatrick’s lead.
Half Time: Downpatrick FC 3 v Lisburn Youth 1
This time with Downpatrick played into a very strong wind, the conditions actually suited them as they were able to get the ball down and play their passing game. Although Lisburn posed a threat, Corey McCoubrey and Adam Jervis worked tirelessly in midfield to protect their defence. Ten minutes into the half Lisburn broke down the Downpatrick right hand side of their defence and another early cross was only partially cleared, with the ball falling to one of their strikers who then gave Campbell no chance and reduce Lisburn Youth’s arrears to one goal.
Downpatrick continued to play their passing game, and this paid off when Eoin Rooney and Decky Looney combined well, with Looney lifting the ball to Rooney to fire a half volley from the edge of the box to score his 50th goal of the season. Downpatrick controlled the rest of the game with Tom Smyth and Thomas Fitzsimons holding a highline and giving Lisburn no space to play, this was an impressive display in very harsh conditions and a well deserved 3 points.
