Donoughmore Athletic 1 Glen Celtic 1
Donoughmore played out an entertaining draw with Glen Celtic in a very cold Stuake on Saturday afternoon last. This was a real game of two halves where Glen dominated the first half but Donoughmore took control in the second half. Donoughmore started very poorly and were chasing shadows for most of the first half and were unable to get to grips with the opposition’s movement. Glen passed the ball around very well in the first 20 minutes but without creating many clear cut chances. Donoughmore had a good 15 minute spell in the middle of the half but most of their chances were from set pieces and they failed to trouble the Glen keeper at all. Glen took the lead in the 35th minute after some atrocious defending by Donoughmore. A cross from a Glen attack down the left was not cleared sufficiently from the 18 yard box. The ball was again crossed from the left and some shocking marking left a Glen striker with a simple finish from 8 yards. The score was 1-0 at half-time with Glen finishing the half strongly and dominating in all areas of the pitch. Donoughmore changed their formation at half-time and this seemed to settle the team a little and from the re-start they took the game to Glen. Donoughmore should have equalised in the 55th minute when Colm O’Sullivan released Jonathan Hennessy on goal, Hennessy rounded the keeper but his shot from a wide angle didn’t have enough power and was cleared off the line by the covering defender. Donoughmore now had the greater share of possession and equalised in the 60th minute. A free kick from Connie Buckley was delivered deep into the Glen penalty area and was not cleared well. The ball broke to Darragh O’Shea who controlled it well before coolly clipping it past the advancing keeper. Donoughmore should have gone on to win this game and had several chances in the last 20 minutes but couldn’t find the winner. Peter Murphy,who has been out injured for the past few weeks, made a huge difference when he came on as sweeper at half-time. Colm O’Sullivan, Robert O’Sullivan and Pat Foley also made a significant impact in the second half.
Team: N. O'Connell, T. Daly, R. O'Sullivan, C. Buckley, C. O’Hanlon,
C. O'Sullivan, P. Foley, T. Looney, J. Hennessy, C. Kelleher, D. O'Shea, 
Subs: P. Murphy for C. O’Hanlon, A. O’Brien for T. Looney, D. Hennessy for T. Daly.  

 

Donoughmore are at home to Glen Celtic next Saturday in Stuake in Division 1A, Kick-off 2pm.

Rathcoole Rovers 1 Donoughmore Athletic 0
Donoughmore were unlucky not to come away with at least a share of the points when they went down 1-0 away to Rathcoole on Saturday last. Donoughmore were missing a total of  six squad members but despite this Donoughmore started well and should have taken the lead in the 5th minute. Conor Kelleher swung in an excellent free from the right but Darragh O’Shea couldn’t get a good contact on the ball with only the keeper to beat from 6 yards. To make matters worse Rathcoole cleared the ball quickly and broke two on two on the Donoughmore defense. A through ball drew Noel O’Connell from goal but the Rathcoole attacker just got there before him 15 yards out and the referee had no option but to award the penalty. The resultant penalty kick was despatched high into the top corner giving O’Connell no chance. The game was fairly even in the first half with Rathcoole always looking threatening on the break. Donoughmore had a lot of possession during the half but the final pass was lacking at times. Jonathan Hennessy had a great chance to equalise in the 35th minute when he was put through one on one but his low effort was straight at the keeper and he saved with his feet. The second half saw Donoughmore take the game to Rathcoole more and they created some half chances in the first 20 minutes but didn’t trouble the Rathcoole keeper enough. Terence Looney had a glorious chance in the 60th minute when Pat Foley crossed from the right to the far post where Looney ghosted in only to put his shot from 8 yards too close to the keeper who again saved with his feet. Looney had a further effort saved when his effort from 15 yards was comfortably saved. Donoughmore dominated the last 20 minutes but the lack of games recently meant that they were not at their sharpest and could not make the breakthrough.  Darragh O’Shea, Connie Buckley, Terence Looney and Tom Daly did well for Donoughmore.
Team: N. O'Connell, T. Daly, R. O'Sullivan, C. Buckley, D. McSweeney,
C. O'Sullivan, A. O’Brien, T. Looney, J. Hennessy, C. Kelleher, D. O'Shea, 
Subs: P. Foley for A. O’Brien, D. Hogan for D. O’Shea.  

 

Last week's away fixture to Park Utd fell foul of the weather. This weekend Donoughmore are away to Rathcoole in Division 1a on Saturday the 12th of December, kick-off at 2pm.