Cranford FC 3
Letterbarrow Celtic 3
Cranford FC produced a late comeback in their own backyard to earn a share of the spoils against Letterbarrow Celtic on Sunday.
The Cranford men were two goals adrift approaching the final ten minutes however, a pair of goals courtesy of Chris Carr and Danny McBride saw them come away with a point.
The visitors started this encounter on the front foot and took the lead after just eight minutes of play.
The ball made its way into the path of Christian Ward who raced in and tucked his low effort past Dean Fleming and into the back of the net.
The hosts responded well to the early setback and had their first effort at goal after 23 minutes. Ronan Pasoma received the ball and let fly from distance but his shot was safely parried away by Cathal Charlton.
On 38 minutes, the Cranford outfit managed to draw themselves level. A delivery from Chris Carr found the head of Shane Coll who headed the ball back across goal to Ronan Pasoma who rifled it home.
The Letterbarrow men tried to respond before the break and had an opportunity through Danny Brown but his low effort was cleared away by goalkeeper Dean Fleming.
10 minutes after the restart, Letterbarrow Celtic’s advantage was restored. Desmond McGroarty directed a free-kick from the halfway line towards the box where it came off the back of Conan Doran’s head and into his own net.
Philip Buchanan’s charges went in pursuit of a goal to level proceedings for a second time and had a penalty shout with 15 minutes to play when Kyle McFadden went to ground but it was quickly dismissed by Gerald Devine.
Down the other end, the visitors managed to extend their cushion as substitute Jack Bennett concluded a good team move with a tidy finish.
Things didn’t look too optimistic for the home side at this stage however, with ten minutes to go they were handed a lifeline.
Kyle McFadden delivered a low cross from the endline and it found the awaiting Chris Carr who made no mistake in finding the back of the net from six yards.
There would be late drama at Cranford Park as the hosts found a leveller deep into injury-time.
A long ball from Dean Fleming was knocked down into the path of substitute Danny McBride who fired the ball past Cathal Charlton to salvage a late point for Philip Buchanan’s outfit.
Teams
Cranford FC: Dean Fleming; Kyle Doherty, Chris Duffy, Chris Carr, Jack McCauley; Naoise Cullen, Conan Doran, Shane Coll, Kyle McFadden; Ronan Pasoma, Domhnall Sweeney. Subs: Ethan Ferry and Shea Coyle for Doran and Cullen (58 mins), Dale McFadden for Sweeney (78 mins), Danny McBride for Coll (80 mins).
Letterbarrow Celtic: Cathal Charlton; Rory Kennedy, Barry Burke, John Kenny, Antonio Romero Paniagua; Darragh Burke, Desmond McGroarty, Declan Gallagher, Christian Ward; Lee Armstrong, Danny Brown. Subs: Dylan McGroary for Kenny (half-time), James Flynn for Kennedy (50 mins), Jack Bennett for Brown (70 mins),
Referee: Gerald Devine.
