WILLOW PARK 1 ST PETERS 1
John Dingle
Willow Park and St Peters clashed once again at DPD Park on Sunday afternoon last in the rescheduled game which was originally abandoned due to fog.
The home team took the lead just after the half hour mark but the Saints levelled matters shortly before the break. The visitors had the better chances during the second half but could not make their dominance count.
There was little action in the opening half leading up to Willow Park breaking the deadlock. The first chance of this eagerly contested fixture saw Rian Power fire over as Willow started brightly. Ben Kilkenny then failed to finish a Neil Kenny pass with the ball flashing across the goalmouth instead.
A first corner kick of the contest followed for Colin Fortune’s men but the early promise soon faded. It took 22 minutes for the Saints to have their first attack which ended with Jordan Carr having a shot saved.
The goal the game needed finally came after 32 minutes when Willow’s Bryan Hughes found the net from just inside the penalty area. It was a crucial breakthrough but the Saints recovered to be deservedly back on level terms before half time.
Moments after the opening goal, Gary Kelly came close to grabbing an equaliser but his shot from the left was pushed behind by goalkeeper Charlie Raper. A further corner followed with Carr firing over. The Saints number ten was further denied a goal as Mark Sherlock then scooped the ball wide from the follow up play. Three corners in quick succession kept up the pressure on the home defence.
The Saints were finally rewarded on the stroke of half time from the third such set piece, as the delivery by Carr was headed downwards over the line by Scott Delaney. There was still time for the Saints to try and take a lead into the break but a Johnny Kiernan cross from the right was caught by Raper at the second attempt.
The visitors were the better team when play resumed in the second half but Willow survived to claim a point. The first chance of the half saw Clive Harris shoot over the bar after 51 minutes with Carr also off target when heading over just after the hour mark. Niall Scullion was no more successful when blazing a shot off target after 65 minutes. A corner kept up the away pressure while the closest the game came to producing a winner arrived midway through the half when John McCrossan whipped in a cross from the left which was flicked just over the bar by Carr.
Willow had a couple of chances to try and claim all three points. A cross from Kenny was saved with the number seven then turning creator to set up Tommy Hurley but the chance of a goal soon disappeared. The Saints came closer to grabbing a winner and were only denied by a goal line clearance following a corner kick with 10 minutes remaining, the sharing of the spoils inevitable though as the game drew to a conclusion.
