Strand Rovers strike in extra-time against Drumbar United to seal Voodoo Cup glory 

A last gasp penalty from Matthew O’Donnell deep into extra-time secured Voodoo Cup glory for Strand Rovers over Drumbar United at Diamond Park on Saturday. 

After an evenly poised opening hour, Strand hit the front through Conor Greene however, this was soon cancelled out with Daniel Bennett levelling terms and forcing extra-time. 

It looked like spot-kicks were going to be required to decide a winner but Rovers were awarded a penalty deep into injury time and O’Donnell stepped up to break the hearts of the Donegal Town men. 

The contest began brightly, with opportunities falling for both sides early on. On ten minutes, Daniel Bennett shot from distance for Drumbar only to see his effort tail-off at the last second. 

Soon afterwards, Strand Rovers had a glorious chance as Chris Boyle delivered an inviting ball and found Aaron Ward; however, he headed over from six yards. 

The remainder of the opening stanza was finely balanced, with neither to the two finalists being able to manufacture a clear-cut opportunity to hit the front and therefore the two sides went into the interval all-square. 

The Strand men began the second half with a sense of purpose and came close to finding the opening goal just three minutes after the restart. Ryan Brennan directed a venomous shot goalwards but Oisin Burke got down brilliantly to save it. 

Just after the hour mark, the deadlock was eventually broken and it was Stephen Glackin’s men who got it. A brilliant cross from Lennon Conley was met by the head of substitute Conor Greene who thumped the header past Burke in the Drumbar goal. 

Karl McHugh’s men didn’t let the head drop though and found themselves back on level terms just ten minutes later. 

Jack Byrne swung in a superb corner-kick which found Daniel Bennett and the Drumbar United captain leaped brilliantly to direct the ball into the net, leaving us all-square again. 

With the clock deep into injury time, Strand Rovers looked to have found a winner. 

A dangerous ball was lumped into the box and it fell to the feet of Conor Greene who fired goalwards only to see his attempt rattle the upright and extra-time was required. 

Stephen Glackin’s men controlled the vast majority of proceedings during extra-time, piling a lot of pressure on the Drumbar United defence but they stood firm and defended brilliantly as they had all afternoon. 

With 110 minutes on the clock, it looked as though extra-time wasn’t going to be enough and penalties were going to be required to determine the match outcome when drama occurred. 

The referee deemed that Drumbar’s Paul Lagan fouled Aarom Ward while he was attempting to clear the ball from his own penalty area and he pointed to the spot. 

Midfielder Matthew O’Donnell stepped up to take the crucial spot-kick and he calmly dispatched it into the bottom corner to seal cup glory for his side. 

Drumbar United: Oisin Burke; Josh McCrea (Enda Brogan, 86), Kevin Martin, Nathan Carr, Joe Gillespie, Mark Duffy (Adam Gillespie, 44), Daniel Bennett, Paul Lagan, Jack Byrne (Matthew Byrne, 90), Vincent Breslin, Dylan McHugh (Rion Carr, 90). 

Strand Rovers: Kevin McGovern; Chris Boyle, John McDyre, James McCole, Karl Magee, Lennon Conley, Ryan Brennan, Matthew O’Donnell, Dylan Boyle (Shane O’Donnell, 80), David McCarron (Conor Greene, 57), Aaron Ward.