Report

Quigley’s Point Swifts  2-2 Carndonagh

Brandon Brown’s last-gasp equalizer earned ten-man Carndonagh a hard-earned point and denied Quigley’s Point Swifts a second straight league victory in Muff on Sunday. The home side started the match well. Colm Deery, who was making his debut for the Muff side, shot just over after three minutes from a Chris Montieth cross. On fifteen minutes Deery shot wide from sixteen yards after good home pressure in the Carn half.The Swifts went in front on eighteen minutes. A lovely weighted ball from Joe McKinney on the left found Deery at the back post, and the debutant bundled the ball home from six yards.

Quigley’s Point continued to press the visitors, although a defensive mix-up almost gifted Carn an equalizer on twenty minutes. But Matthew McLaughlin shot well wide when one-on-one with Point keeper Oisin Burke. At the other end, Mickey Nicholas had two half-chances dealt with by Carn goalkeeper Daniel Houghton. The home side made it 2-0 three minutes before the break. Nicholas’s well-struck free kick was pushed away low by Houghton. Odhran McColgan picked the ball up on the right byline and squared a low pass to an oncoming DJ Canavan, who shot into the roof of the net at the near post. The visitors started the second half more positively, but their task was made harder on fifty-two minutes when Darragh Brown was sent-off for a second bookable offence. This seemed to galvanize the visitors, however, and they were back in the game on sixty minutes. Ronan Doherty’s thunderbolt free-kick from twenty yards found the top left corner, giving Oisin Burke no chance. The home side tried to slow the pace of the game with the extra man advantage. On sixty-seven minutes, Jordan McLaughlin went close with a twenty-five yard effort after a neat lay-off from Colm Deery. Carn continued to work hard, with Ryan Kelly shooting wide from outside the box.  Carn’s resilient second-half performance would pay dividends right at the death. In the fourth minute of injury time, a long goal kick from Houghton was well controlled by substitute Declan McGonagle. His cross from the right flank seemed to heading goal-wards but was tipped onto the bar by Oisin Burke. Brandon Brown pounced on the loose ball, heading into the net to secure a 2-2 draw and leave Quigley’s Point to rue a wasteful second-half performance.