Brackaville Owen Roes........0-13

Strabane Sigersons.............2-19

STRABANE Sigersons made the long journey to Coalisland on Sunday past to play Brackaville Owen Roes in the Tyrone All County League Division 3 and in the end, they made amends for their previous week's defeat at the hands of Derrytresk with a convincing twelve points win over the East Tyrone outfit.

Strabane were very conscious of their defeat the previous Sunday and were determined to bounce straight back from that reversal and that's exactly how it turned out with a fine all round team display shining through against a very determined and youthful home side.

The game was played in glorious sunshine but Strabane didn't have it all their own way as the home side made them fight hard for their victory with the game in the balance right till the final quarter as Brackaville had reduced the deficit to two points at one stage.

By half time, Strabane had raced into a deserved five points lead with Warner Mullen in superb form hitting 0-7, with six of his scores coming from free kicks as he punished any indiscretion in the Brackaville defence. John McLaughlin who was causing havoc in the Brackaville defence also, added two points from play while Martin McNulty and Chris Devine also hit a point apiece.

The overall work rate by the entire Strabane team was very evident during the first half and despite being five in front, they knew that this game was not over by a long shot and that they were going to have to work equally as hard in the second half.

The start of the second half saw Strabane increase their lead to six with the hard working Richard O'Neill getting a rare score. Both O'Neill and young Gerard McCrossan were having fine games in the middle of the park for Strabane and feeding fine balls through to the Strabane forwards.

Brackaville responded with three points in a row from play to cut the gap to three and then Strabane sent over a point from play via Chris Devine.

The game was very tense at this stage and with just fifteen minutes left to play it became even more tense for Strabane as the home side sent over another two points from play and now there were only two between the sides and all to play for.

Strabane then put some daylight between the sides with Warner Mullen hitting a fine goal after some hard graft from his fellow forward John McLaughlin. Brendan McLaughlin who was just on as a substitute may have got a final touch to the ball but Mullen claimed that the ball was already over the line.

Strabane edged further in front with a fine point from play via John McLaughlin but that was quickly cancelled out by a similar strike by the home side.

Strabane weren't going to make the same mistakes as they did against Derrytresk and Warner Mullen sent over two fine points from play and the game was signed and sealed when Gerard McCrossan and John McLaughlin combined to set up Chris Devine for a second goal for Strabane.

However the drama wasn't yet finished as the home side were awarded a penalty. However, the Strabane goalkeeper James O'Reilly saved the resulting kick.

Strabane went on to add a further three points from play with Ryan O'Kane who had been outstanding over the course of the hour getting the first, Stephen Stewart also added a point and the final Strabane score fell to John-Paul Gallagher who was making his first appearance of the season.

Brackaville added a late point from play but there was no doubting that there was only going to be one winner with Strabane dominant and fully deserving of their win.

Interestingly not a single player received a booking or a tick in this keenly contested sporting encounter and the fact that Brackaville scored all their points from play is a testament to the Strabane defence who tackled hard but gave away no silly free kicks and also a mention of some fine refereeing.

This was a welcome win for Strabane and was as a result of great teamwork and hard graft. This Sunday Strabane will entertain Drumragh at Páirc Mhic Sioghair and this will no doubt prove to be a difficult encounter.

Team

James O'Reilly, Eoin Kerr, Anthony McMenamin, Ciarán O'Kane, Sean Barkley, Stephen Stewart (0-1), Ryan O'Kane (0-1), Gerard McCrossan and Richard O'Neill (0-1), Danny McBride, Warner Mullen (1-9), Niall Conwell, Chris Devine (1-2), Martin McNulty (0-1), John McLaughlin (0-3).

Substitutes: Brendan McLaughlin for Niall Conwell, Aaron McLaughlin for Eoin Kerr, Gerard Murray for John McLaughlin, John-Paul Gallagher (0-1) for Anthony McMenamin.

Referee: Donal O'Neill (Derrylaughan)