Lurgan BBOB played their second match back in Division 1 away to Derryhirk United and played some good football throughout but in the end had to settle for salvaging their first point of the season with a last minute equalizer from Bryan Archer.

Against a tall Derryhirk side, especially through the middle, BBOB gradually got into their stride by playing some decent football on the ground and won a series of free-kicks just outside the penalty area but BBOB were wasteful with these efforts. Derryhirk also threatened a couple of times but were denied good goalscoring chances when they were caught offside with the timing in their final moves and by a resolute BBOB defence, which kept a good line. Stephen Heasley went close to opening the scoring for BBOB from close range after a fine inswinging corner from the impressive Mark Doyle. BBOB did break the deadlock just after the midway point of the first half when Alan Dowey did well to score with a half volley from a bouncing cross by Alex Wright, who had made a great burst and turn wide right. However, soon after BBOB conceded a throw-in on their right, which saw a long foul throw taken and missed by the referee who also missed the nod-on to a Derryhirk player in an offside position as Derryhirk grabbed an equaliser. BBOB probably edged the play for the remainder of the half but neither team was able to score again before the break as the teams turned around at 1-1.

Again, BBOB soon began to edge the play in the second half with the central midfield duo of Stevie Willis and Derek Wilson now really finding their passing range, many times to the always available forward Neil Anderson, who very nearly scored with some acute close range drives. However, midway through the half it was Derryhirk who went into the lead when the ball fell to their attacker on the edge of a crowded penalty area and his strike somehow managed to find the roof of the net. Not long after this BBOB suffered a further blow with the loss of the influential Willis to an ankle injury, but to their credit BBOB kept battling on. Right at the end Glenn Emerson managed to knock a ball on from midfield through to Bryan Archer, who timed his run superbly and then calmly slotted past the Derryhirk goalkeeper to salvage at the very least a deserved draw for BBOB.

BBOB will be pleased to get their first point on the board following their promotion to the top division. They should also be happy with another solid display by their defensive unit and should be quite satisfied with some fine football played at times, which proved again that it can bring rewards as shown in their two goals against Derryhirk.

BBOB: Aaron McGlade, Mark Doyle, ALAN DOWEY, Stephen Heasley, Paul Heasley (c)***, Andi Heasley, Derek Wilson, Steven Willis**, Alex Wright*, Neil Anderson, Glenn Emerson. Subs: Mark Russell**, BRYAN ARCHER*, Steven Savage, Philip Cowan***, Jonathan Willis.

Date: August 18, 2009     Venue: Lord Lurgan Park