Friday, 3 November 2017 at 11:15 PM Galvin Early
The local derby between Owen Roes and Newtownstewart is normally a hard fought encounter. However Saturday's tussle was probably given an added sprinkle by the presence of Newtownstewart stalwart Finbar McConnell in the Owen Roes dugout. The contest did simmer to the boil the odd time, but in truth lacked the intensity that might've existed had this been a game with more at stake for both sides.
The home side's ambitions are in reaching the divisional play offs, and while the St Eugenes still have mathematical hope, in reality they appear to be regrouping for 2016 at this stage. The home side started brightly and a well taken Cathal McShane point following a neat move gave them the lead, with an equally well executed Sean Dooher effort adding to the advantage.
Corner back Kevin O'Neill gallivanted forward to bomb over on 9 minutes, before a defence splitting Gerard McShane pass allowed Ryan McAleer to continue the Leckpatrick offensive blitz.
McShane added to the lead from a placed kick before Newtownstewart got their first score on the quarter hour mark through Piaras Gallagher. The home side could've added a goal to their tally shortly after but a fine move involving Seamus Dooher, and McShane saw McAleer only trouble the side netting.
Despite this early dominance the home side somewhat lost their way for a period allowing Newtown to get a foothold in the game. A monster shot from Michael Dooher greased the scoreboard but a pair of scores through Aidan McSorley and Sean Gallagher in the away side closed the gap to a goal, only for another well taken Michael Dooher score to maintain a gap.
The second period started as the first ended with the O'Neills scratching around for some rhythm. It took until 38 minutes for any semblance of action with sub Ronan Parker's clever flick been driven wide by Cathal McShane.
Nonetheless the two players combined a few minutes later for the Tyrone man to score. Newtown were proving stubborn opponents and clipped one back straight away with a McSorley free, before full back Stephen Kelly knocked over with a well measured effort.
Conor O'Neill and McShane scored either side of a Niall Mayse point and when McShane added to his team's tally on 53 minutes it looked good for Owen Roes, only for McShane to pocket a second yellow before the game restarted to leave his side a man down.
There was probably too much for Newtown to do, and Seamus Dooher cemented Owen Roes' advantage. The away side did pull another back via McSorley from a dead ball but the last action was going to be in the Newtown goal mouth.
A fine ball from Brendan Boggs was expertly worked by Ronan Parker to the marauding Kevin O'Neill, and despite the coaching script dictating a point, the corner back backed him self and lashed a rasping drive to the roof of the net.
A good start and a good finish for the green and reds, but they will know that if they hope to maintain their play off push they need to generate a performance that covers the full hour.
Ryan McShane, Kevin O'Neill (1-1), Stephen Kelly (0-1), Conor Doherty, Sean Dooher (0-1), Gerard Devine, Conall McCormick, Gerard McShane, Brendan Boggs , Ryan McAleer (0-1), Seamus Dooher (0-1), Cathal McShane (0-5), Stephen Harper, Michael Dooher (0-2), Conor O'Neill (0-1). Subs: Ronan Parker for Gerard McShane (18 mins BS), Gerard McShane for McCormick (42 mins), Marty O'Neill for Harper (58 mins), McCormick for Gerard McShane (58 mins).
