BONAGEE WIN FIESTY ENCOUNTER OVER 10 MAN COPANY

COPANY TEAM

A fiesty encounter between Bonagee United and Copany Rovers, ended with a two goal victory for the home side, as Paul Clarke saw red for the Cobras.

Copany started brightly enough, and Marty McGrath missed a decent chance on his first start for Copany, putting the ball wide from a pull back from Paul Clarke.

Aaron Scott was unfortunate after 16 minutes, when he spotted the keeper off his line but saw his chip from distance smack the crossbar.

A slippery surface at Bonagee left for a number of mistimed challenges which seemed to rattle both sides.

Michael Doherty began to impose himself in the heart of the Bonagee midfield, and his powerful running combined with an excellent passing range began to turn the tide in favour of the Letterkenny men.

Bonagee took the lead on 33 minutes, when a long ball was not dealt with with subsequent headers from two Copany defenders only landing the ball at the feet of Mark Hunter at the edge of the area, who rifled the ball into the bottom corner.

A heavy tackle from a loose ball in a 50/50 at the edge of the area from Darren Kilpatrick resulted in a brief melee of handbags from which a number of yellows were handed to either side.

Copany moved David Graham to the center of midfield in an attempt to combat the dangerous Doherty, and this worked much better for the visitors, as Graham gave the Bonagee man much less time on the ball than he was afforded in the first half, and in fact Grahams runs from midfield were causing the Letterkenny men lots of problems.

In an attempt to stop Copanys quick counters, a couple of mistimed challenges, especially from Michael Doherty, already on a yellow from the first period, meant he was fortunate to remain on the pitch.

With Copany well in ascendency, it was the visitors however who were reduced to 10 men, when Paul Clarke reacted badly to a late challenge and let the away side down - shown a straight red for which Copany could have no complaints about.

Bonagee went two up when poor marking from a corner let Darren Hunter nod the ball past the keeper, with the ball trickling over the line as Copany tried in vain to clear.

With the 10 men, Copany showed great spirit and determination, although leaving gaps in the defense always meant Bonagee could be dangerous on the counter.

David Graham missed Copanys best opportunity of the second half when he powered through from midfield but miscaught his effort from the edge of the area and sent the ball wide.

With Copany showing great determination, Bonagee were punching on the counter, and Gary Ward was called into action on several occasions making a number of fine stops.

Bonagee about deserving of the win in the end, but Copany may well wonder what could have happened if they remained with 11 when in a period of sustained dominance at the start of the second half.

Best for Bonagee was Michael Doherty, with David Graham excelling for Copany and Gary Ward making a number of fine stops in the last 15 or 20 minutes.