D.Ward memorial tournament OLV -2(IAN CLIFFORD ,JONNY DUTTON) Drumfin Celtic 1

OLV squad; Mark(safe hands)McCabe ,Anto Kelly ,Dave Kelly ,Martin Dunican ,James McCabe ,Mick Collins ,Phil Lowndes ,Dave Delgarno ,Garreth Grech ,Mark Matthews ,Jonny Dutton ,Ian Clifford ,Pat Heary ,Darren(Duksy)Ronan ,Paddy McEvoy.

Manager ;John Lowndes.


  OLV got their pre-season off to a great start by beating a very good Drumfin side in the Derek Ward memorial tournament at Markievcz park on Wednesday evening ,although billed as a friendly the game was always going to have a competitive edge as Drumfin had several ex OLV players in their team ,the game stared well for OLV and chances were hard to come by as both defences stood firm and most of the play was in the middle of the park ,it was OLV who can feel most aggrieved as after half an hour Marky Matthews raced onto a clever ball and deftly clipped the ball into the net from about 25 yards only for the ref to wrongly blow for off-side,Drumfin turned the screw a little after this and put OLVs back line under alot of pressure and had a few shots with new keeper Mark(safe-hands)McCabe dealing with everything that managed to get past the defenders and pulling off one super save as the ball was definately heading for the top corner.

HALF-TIME 0-0

OLV started the second half with a slightly different team as gaffer John Lowndes made a couple of substitutions most notably Pat Heary making another "come-back" appearence and he got stuck in straight away and was up to speed immediately beside the other lads in the centre of the park,Drumfin took the lead after 60 mins when OLV lost concentration after Phil Lowndes had to leave the pitch with a bloody nose after he bravely blocked a powerful shot ,the resulting corner wasn't dealt with and a Drumfin player scored a good goal from the six yard line ,OLV regrouped and equalised within 10 minutes as Matthews whipped a good ball across the box and Ian Clifford nipped in at the back post to finish well ,the game picked up in pace from the re-start both teams could sense a winner but it was OLV that got it as they won another corner and Matthews supplied another good ball into the box and after a bit of a scramble the ball went over the line with the last touch coming from Jonny Dutton ,Drumfin were now on all out attack and had several shots in the final few minutes but great last ditch defending and a couple more great saves from McCabe saw the match finish in OLVs favour.
FULL-TIME 2-1

Well done to all the OLV players every one of them played their part in this win,the only dampner on the evening was a knee injury to new signing Garreth Grech who with fellow new signing James McCabe had played well in their first game for OLV,now its a game against Glenville and with another win we can win the D.Ward trophy.