Lisbellaw United 3 Tummery Athletic 3

Lisbellaw recovered from a sluggish start that saw them trail Tummery by two goals at half time to grab a point in an entertaining second half at Drumad on Saturday. 
A goal from Christopher Beacom on his first league start of the season started the revival, and further second half strikes from Niall Keenan and Sam Lindsay gave them an unlikely lead, before Tummery recovered to snatch a share of the points.
“We were really poor in the first half,” admitted Lisbellaw manager Kyle McCleery.
 “We looked sluggish and never really got going. We got into a few decent positions but our final ball was poor. We deserved to be 2-0 down. 
“In the second half I asked them to show a bit more energy and adventure going forward. It was a test of character to see if we could come back from 2-0 down and they came out flying and within 25 minutes we were 3-2 up. We had loads of energy, we were getting to the ball first and winning the 50-50 tackles. Everything was going well for us and if anything we looked like we might kick on and add a fourth but then we gave away a penalty.”
Despite conceding the late goal, McCleery, who was watching from the sideline as he served a suspension, acknowledged that neither side deserved to lose. 
“There probably could have been more goals on another day, but I think overall a draw was probably a fair result. They are a good team on their day. 
“Any team with Ryan Hanna and Cathal Beacom in it are going to be dangerous, and they were. It was a really good game for any neutrals with plenty of goalmouth action and plenty of endeavour from both teams going forward. I had a young team out so a point wasn’t too bad, and at half time I certainly would have taken a draw.”
Both sides had a couple of players missing from their normal first choice line-ups, but it was Tummery who adapted quicker. 
They won a succession of corners, carved out several chances in the opening quarter of the match, and were rewarded after 20 minutes when a low cross to the back post was converted by Fintan McCarney to give them the lead. 
Ten minutes later they went further ahead when an unmarked Blaine Campbell side footed in from six yards out. 
Lisbellaw’s best first half chance came when Sam Lindsay beat his man in midfield and shot from 20 yards, but the keeper touched it onto the post.
Lisbellaw regrouped at half time, and looked a different side in the opening exchanges of the second period. They got one goal back when Christopher Beacom headed in a corner. Niall Keenan then netted the equaliser when he pounced on a loose ball following a goalmouth scramble and fired into the roof of the net. 
It looked as though the home side would complete a remarkable comeback when Sam Lindsay’s shot from 12 yards gave them the lead, but with 15 minutes remaining Tummery got back on level terms. 
Ryan Lindsay bundled over Malachy McLaughlin inside the penalty area, and Cathal Beacom stepped up to dispatch the spot kick.
Tummery almost snatched victory in the dying minutes through Ryan Hanna but Raymond Carroll, making his first start of the season, managed to deflect the ball over the bar and secure a point for his side.