February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Mike Fitzpatrick
Rangers 2-15, Dublin 1-7
But for a second-half scoring spree from Rangers’ David Phelan, which thoroughly disheartened the Dubs, Dublin could have provided something of a shock in defeating this Rangers side in Junior "A" football action Sunday at Gaelic Park.
Denis Tuomey’s men opened as the better side, scoring a goal thanks to Mark Fitzgerald and a point from Mike Sheridan. Rory Hussey and Fitzgerald again scored further points without reply, until Dublin’s Ian Mullett rediscovered his scoring prowess and hit a couple for the boys from the Capital. Shane Nugent stormed his way through the Rangers backline, and though it looked as if he had perhaps delayed shooting, he powered a shot past John Williams in the Rangers goal to level the tie. Dublin looked as if they could really have taken the tie to this Rangers side, and Mullett hit another to give Dublin a slender lead going into the second half.
It was a different story, however, in the second period. David Phelan made up for many first-half Rangers misses by hitting five second-half points after Fitzgerald had equalized the tie for Tuomey’s blues. Though Mullett continued to plug away up front for his side, Phelan and Hussy continued to thwart the Dublin defense. At the other end, Mike Rennicks and Malachy McHugh denied the Dublin forward line of Nugent and Mullett by intercepting on passes meant for the Dub players and clearing the ball from danger. Despite the equality of the first half, Dublin found themselves well behind in the second period, with Phelan really causing havoc in the Dubs defense.
Dublin were restricted to just two points in the second half as opposed to Rangers tally of one goal and 11 points, which really conveys the message that when the chips were down, Dublin crashed. Rangers have proved themselves to be the strongest side in this division, already looking like playoff certainties so early in the season. Having won each game they have played so far, they only really need one more win from four games to qualify for the latter stages of the season, something I feel they will certainly achieve, sooner rather than later.
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Dublin must pick themselves up after this defeat, they are by no means out of the competition, but they must start picking up the points if they are to advance later in the season. Rangers, though having won their previous games, they weren’t as convincing as they were in this second-half performance, and it will take a side of phenomenal talent and form to prevent them from inflicting damage upon the rest of the division.
Rangers: John Williams, Bernard Madden, Mike Rennicks, Malachy McHugh, Tom Maher, Phil Bermingham, Seamus Kiernan, Rory Hussey (0-3), Dave Ryan (1-1), Mark Fitzgerald (1-4), Dave Phelan (0-6), Mike Sheridan (0-1), Sean Concannon, Joe Maloney, John Cregan.
Dublin: Padraig Broderick, Dermot Rice, John Dodd, Eamonn Cullen, John Kiernan, Anthony O’Hare, Niall Rice, Damian Hallassy, Gerry McCormack, Paul Keegan (0-1), Ian Mullet (0-5), Fergal McElvaney, Shane Nugent (1-0), Michael Crowley (0-1), Mickey Cusack.
May 26-June 1, 1999