Newcastle left deflated when Star shines

30 November 2011 - by CHARLIE McSTAY

FOOTBALL can be a cruel, unforgiving game as Newcastle found out to their cost at Meadowvale on Saturday.

Davy Taylor’s side matched Crumlin Star in most departments of this entertaining semi-final except one, the art of goalscoring.

Crumlin Star, a side packed with former Newington YC and Ardoyne WMC players, seized their chances and duly booked their place in the final against Islandmagee on December 28.

Newcastle started with the strong, gusting wind in their backs and created the first opening after only two minutes, but Jonathan Scannell’s effort from close in was well saved by Malachy Thompson.

Declan Allister, my man of the match, then went close with a header at one end before producing a superb covering tackle at the other end a minute later to deny Barry McKervey a shooting opportunity.

Newcastle continued to call the shots and Scannell shot narrowly wide after a superb run and with 27 minutes gone Chris Collins wasn’t too far away after another good move.

Minutes later Conor Gribben was denied a certain goal by the alert Thompson after good approach play from Collins. Crumlin Star failed to clear their lines from the following corner, but Allister was unable to control his shot and the ball flew wildly over the bar.

Crumlin Star, who were playing well within themselves, rode their luck and with 39 minutes gone Paul Brown opened the scoring with a clinical finish after an excellent break from defence.

Newcastle took the game to Crumlin Star at the start of the second half and with 53 minutes gone Scannell carved out an opening for Conor Gribben, but the big striker took one touch too many and was unable to pull the trigger as Paul Berne closed him down.

Scannell shot wide in the 59th minute before Neil Corr was left holding his head in his hands after his stinging shot was brilliantly saved by Thompson.

The ball fell back to Corr, but his follow up shot cruelly crashed against the upright and flew to safety. Newcastle were now forced to throw caution to the wind in a bid to find the equaliser, but Crumlin stoically held firm.

The Belfast side posed an even bigger threat on the break and with 80 minutes gone Allister saved the day when he stopped Paul Brown in his tracks with a superb last-man tackle.

Newcastle huffed and puffed over the last 10 minutes and they paid the penalty when Stevie Brown broke away before sliding the ball across the face of the goal for Paul McLarnon to make it 2-0 and game, set and match in the 85th minute.

Crumlin Star: M. Thompson, S. O’Reilly, G. Taylor, C. Burns, P. Berne, J. McNeill, C. Murphy, P. McLarnon, P. O’Neill, P. Brown, B. McKervey. Subs: N. Hawkins, Sean Brown, Steven Brown.

Newcastle: S. Harrison, D. Young, B. Fitzsimons, C. Scott, D. Allister, N. Corr, C. Collins, S. O’Connor, C. Gribben, C. Brannigan, J. Scannell. Subs: D. Travers, P. Mulholland, P. McKenna.

Crumlin Star 2

Newcastle 0

BORDER CUP SEMI-FINAL

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