All County Football League
Division Two
Bryansford 5-14
An Riocht 4-15
By Peter McGrath Jnr
BRYANSFORD were in celebratory mood at the end of a goal fest in St Patrick’s Park as they overcame An Ríocht in a thriller on Monday night.
In the early part of the contest, the sides went score for score. That began with a Jack Rodgers point for An Ríocht being cancelled out by a Danny Savage score.
Next, An Ríocht hit the net as they bagged the first of the nine goals that were to be scored. A brilliant move that saw the visitors sweep the full length of the field from Curtis Flanagan in nets to Darragh McAlinden at full forward ended with the number 14 slotting home.
From the kickout, Bryansford replied in kind. Having won the ball in midfield, Ciaran Lundy’s electric pace proved too much for An Ríocht to stop and the net danced once more, this time at the other end.
Another Kingdom point, Caomhan Campbell the scorer. Another Bryansford point, Danny Savage the scorer. The mimickery continued. Kicking into a strengthening breeze, Ronan McAlinden landed a majestic two-pointer to the delight of the travelling fans.
Bryansford sought a response and, when Daniel McKibben was hauled to the ground and a free was awarded, Rian Magorrian split the posts to match McAlinden’s two.
Finally, the run of tit for tat stopped. Bryansford looked to pin An Ríocht in with the extra man and seemed to have turned the ball over only for a free out to be given. The quickly taken free was given away and that set Bryansford clean through with Danny Savage making no mistake from close range.
Darragh McAlinden hit back with a brilliant long-range free into the wind for a two-pointer on 23 minutes to close the gap to the minimum, but by the 27th minute it had widened to ten.
Rian Magorrian hit his second long-range score of the game and Daniel McDonald followed with a goal. A pacy attack from midfield saw McDonald shimmy in the square like a man who had played corner forward his whole career as he prodded home from a yard out.
Ruairi Wells kept the scoring run going with a point and another goal soon followed. In a four-man move, Rian Magorrian was the odd one out as the only player involved not to be called Daniel.
Read the full report in the current issue of the Mourne Observer.
