Resilient Muckross rally to force draw

"THE corpse is still twitching," was the comment of Muckross coach, Ian Steepe, after he saw his team come back from the dead against Old Alexandra at Whitechurch on Saturday.

Ten minutes into the second half the defending champions had conceded two goals, the same number in their goals against column at the end of last season, and it took all their resilience and experience to stage a comeback and share the points.

It was the second time in three games that they had been forced to dig deep into their reserves to find a late equaliser against pretenders to their title. A fortnight ago Hermes were within three minutes of imposing a rare defeat on their great rivals when Mary Logue came to the rescue.

On Saturday it was the Irish international who once again led the fightback, after Patricia Conway and Hazel Agar had put Old Alexandra two up, when a powerful run in to the circle led to a penalty which she converted with ease.

"We scored our goals too early," was the verdict of Old Alexandra coach, Simon Filgas. "Our mistake was to give Muckross 20 minutes to come back. When they scored their first we became nervous and we were tiring so the heads began to drop," he added.

Filgas admitted, however, that it was a result he would have settled for before the match and was pleased with the team's display.

Steepe wasn't quite sure whether to be relieved or frustrated when the final whistle blew because, despite being two goals behind, Muckross should probably have taken all three points and not just the two they collected for a score draw.

"We're all smiles because we saved the game when we thought we would lose but really with the chances we had we should have won," he said in reference to missed opportunities even after Patricia McHugh's late equaliser.

"But we will get better and we will score more once we sort out our corners which are a problem. We're not too concerned about conceding more goals this season because the change in the offside rule makes that inevitable," he added.

A 3-0 victory over Clontarf at Belfield means Loreto are the only team in the first division with a 100 per cent record while Hermes recovered from last week's defeat to Old Alexandra by beating Pembroke Wanderers.

Meanwhile, the draw for the first round of the Senior Cup, which will be played on November 2nd, was made yesterday with the ties of the round pairing Muckross and Ards and Railway Union with cup holders Pegasus.