Newtowne made it to their second cup final this year with an impressive win over rivals Drummond. A marvellous team performance set up the Newts with a May 4th date with either Maghera or Foylebank.
I always bang on about key moments in games and for me it occurred as early as the 6th minute. Drummond had a shot scrambled off the line and from the clearance Walsh found Morrison. His shot was stopped by Crown but Mooney fired a thunderous shot past the keeper from the rebound. A marvellous strike.
The game dulled after the goal and the next chance of note came in the 22 nd minute when Ryan Scott shot just wide. It was Drummond's last real effort of the half.
From this point on Newtowne began to create chances. Mooney was instrumental in everything dangerous and he forced a superb save from Bob Crown on the half hour. Mooney gives Newtowne a cutting edge which has helped them considerably recently.
Both defences were holding a very high line and while this suited the pace of the Newtowne defence it caused trouble for Drummond. Repeatedly they struggled to cope with the pace of Mooney, Loughery , Harkin and Morrison. It was a long ball over the top that created the second. Loughery lobbed the keeper and Mooney slotted into an empty net.
Soon after the goal Crown made yet another brilliant save, this time a fierce low drive from Morrison, even the Newtowne bench applauded the save. Newtowne's dominance of the half concluded with the important third. Loughery headed home from a Morrison corner.
The second half saw the game dull in intensity. Drummond put Gibbons in defence and while this curbed the Newtowne threat a lot it took out one of their driving forces going forward. Gibbons is a quality player and his removal from the middle made it easier for the impressive Walsh and Nicholl.
Once again Crown was the Drummond hero in the second half making two outstanding saves. Painter joined the fray for Drummond but his hard work was largely fruitless as he had to cope with high balls against O'Reilly and Mickey O'Brien who were superb.
In large part the game died out and was illuminated a little in the last 15 minutes. Deighan hit the bar with a stunning strike. Gerard Logue took his goal well for Drummond with 6 minutes to go but it was too late to start a Drummond revival.
Overall Newtowne were worthy winners. They were sharp in the tackle and always looked a threat going forward. ALL the team were bang on their game and I'm only going to mention one. Fergus Irwin has been in and out of the team all year and he had a tremendous game on Friday. He wasn't Newtowne's best player but he's an unsung player at the club.
The fact that Drummond's best player was Bob Crown summed up the game. They'll be disappointed with this performance. At the whistle Drummond were very sporting and made a point of wishing their ould rivals well in the final.
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