SOCCER: Second-half goals help Dooly County sneak past Dublin

Dublin’s teams battled down to the wire in both matches of a spring break special with Dooly County Friday night, but came up on the short end of each as the Bobcats bumped the ball in for key second-half goals to secure wins in the Shamrock Bowl. 

The Lady Irish scored one, but gave up two in the final 40 minutes of a 3-1 loss. The Dublin boys carried a 1-1 tie into the final minute of regulation, when Dooly struck for a heartbreaker to win it 2-1. 

The game, according to current schedules listed by MaxPreps, was the girls’ season finale, but only a next-to-last in non-region tune-ups for the Irish boys (another with Hawkinsville set for Tuesday night back in the Bowl) ahead of their first-round playoff matchup at top-seeded Woodville-Thompkins in Savannah, which is set for Wednesday, April 17. 

A hat trick by Eunise Reyes delivered all three goals in the victory for the Dooly County girls, just one early on in a first half that saw the ball linger in the middle portion of the field for a majority as the two teams mostly battled to a stalemate in their efforts to organize and sustain an attack. 

Dublin (2-11, 1-7 region 2-High A) came up with few clean shots, while its keeper Jerrica Charleston took care of most that the Bobcats were able to fire on goal, though Reyes was able to fit one in for the 1-0 difference going to intermission. 

She would put in two more, against just one by the Lady Irish, to secure the victory in the second half. 

The Irish boys (3-9, 3-5 region) held their own against a shorthanded Dooly County squad later on, likewise yielding only a single goal in first half on a shot by Jortin Woodard that made it past Dublin keeper Demari Foster. 

But he wrapped up most everything else the Bobcats sent his way through halftime, and down the stretch of the second stanza, midway through which the Irish would tie things up at 1-1 to make it anybody’s game. 

Like most of its threats out of an attack relying heavily on quick sprints by its forwards to outrun defenders from midfield, Dublin’s equalizing goal unfolded in a fast-break situation that caught Dooly County’s defenders a step late scrambling back. 

The Bobcats stayed with Urick Andrews, who dribbled it down to the right corner after getting a feed from a teammate near midfield, but failed to cover Kam Hampton – who was lingering on the left side of goal – tightly enough. 

Paulino Borrallas, who had responsibility for Dublin’s left-side striker, peeled toward the middle to help in preventing a direct shot from Andrews, who had a solid look against Dooly goalkeeper Jayquan Burke, but passed it up instead for a left-side cross that found the open Hampton for a tap-in to make it 1-1 with about 21 minutes left to play. 

Both sides saw some opportunities unfold for a go-ahead in the remaining time. 

Dublin’s Andrews wound up with a couple of the good looks, one from directly in front of goal that veered wide. Another for a teammate took off high, and through the gridiron goalposts on a miss. 

Several more bang-bang tackles by Bobcat defenders that took out both the ball, and the legs of Dublin forwards on their fast-moving routes upfield with no foul call, eliminated some other prospective chances down the stretch. 

Dooly, whose equal number of openings resulted in very few good-looking shots, sent several wide and high. A few attempts wound up on frame, one that Foster punched up over the bar for a save, though the Bobcats’ luck remained difficult until it appeared regulation was destined to end in a draw. 

Foster got his hands on the ball twice, once on a high collection at the top corner of the box and another on a bouncing shot toward the net, to prevent some long shots for Dooly under the two-minute mark. 

The Irish, after the second, moved the ball out to midfield off his rollout. But the Bobcats’ Alex Mendez was able to come in sideways to steal control of it from a Dublin midfielder. 

The Dooly countermove got it to Juan Vega, who assisted Marquavious Burke on a fateful shot near the left post that slipped in to put the Bobcats up 2-1 with only 40 seconds to go. 

The Irish weren’t able to move the ball into position for a potential answer before the final whistle.