It was Junior league action as St Anns hosted Oisin on Sunday May 4th, for the Didsbury club`s first visit to Stretford of the year. It was wet and warm at Turn Moss where a fair crowd turned out to cheer their respective teams on, in what turned out to be an enjoyable game.

A few regulars were unavailable for the visiting team which allowed them to bring in some new faces for their first action of the season, including a young Chris McKenna making his debut at this level for the club. The match started with both teams having unsuccessful attacks before a Ryan Kelly free kick opened the scoring for Oisin after Chris Webb had been fouled. An equalizer was found when Paul Mackey was caught out by a long ball over the top and his man raced through to point. The away team then gave us a taste of what was to follow when a free-flowing move was finished by the impressive Chris Moore, the full-forward`s shot was despatched neatly between the posts. Oisin would however have been slightly worried by the manner in which they conceded the next score, a free kick awarded after Kevin Costello was adjudged to have fouled his man. This resulting free klick was floated into the visitor`s square and with a free catch the St Anns attacker finished smartly past `keeper James Kelly to give the home side a two point lead. The lead however was short lived, as from the very next attack a Paul Mackey delivery found a well placed Tommy Hanvey who`s finish beat the home `keeper to restore a narrow one point advantage to Oisin. The Oisin rearguard were at this stage ruthlessly cutting out most of the home teams attacks with tenacious tackling from Farmer and Betney, as well as solid displays from Morgan and McKenna. A further score each finished the half, with a Webb free kick, won by Moore, being cancelled out by an Ann`s free kick after Costello fouled. Oisin had played the more attractive football in the first period and may have been slightly disappointed to only come in a point to the good.

Half Time - St Ann`s 1-02 Oisin 1-03.

Oisin started the second half playing some excellent free-flowing football, this coupled with a fantastic work rate caused the home side a lot of problems. Moore added to his tally with another point before a great move involving Farmer and the Gareth Shiells was pointed by the classy Joe Quinn. Again John Farmer was involved when Hanvey pointed. Chris Webb then scored a fantastic long range point before Hanvey was dragged down and Kelly scored the resulting free kick. St Ann`s at this stage were struggling to match the drive and hunger of their Didsbury rivals, and fell further behind when Webb again pointed. The home side then registered they`re only score of the second half with a free kick and had a great goal chance denied by a wonderful James Kelly save. Any lingering hopes of an Ann`s fight back were well and truly dashed when Ryan Kelly combined with substitutes Chris Conlon and Nathan Simpson in a rapid counter attack, the latter finishing well to add another goal to the Oisin tally. The Oisin defence was in uncompromising mood and Shane McKenna who replaced the solid Keith Morgan fitted in well. Paddy Ryan then made his Oisin debut, replacing Packie Corr. The host`s misery was compounded when they had a player sent off for dissent. Midfielder Chris Webb made matters worse for the home team when he first scored a long range free kick off the ground and he then raced through on goal, after half backs Farmer and Quinn had combined, his finish was emphatic, high into the net. That brought the Oisin tally to an impressive 3-10, and they played out the closing few minutes looking very comfortable.
It was a sound performance, apart from a soft first half goal, with Oisin looking very sharp on the attack. Chris McKenna impressed on his debut but he wasn`t alone, Quinn, Farmer and Betney all had great games in defence and after a shaky start Webb and Mackey dominated the middle. Kelly and Hanvey caused problems up front and Shiells worked tirelessly, a great performance too for Moore at full-forward. In fact everyone played their part in this impressive Oisin victory and with just over a week until the Junior Championship the management will no doubt have some tough decisions to make.

Full Time - St Ann`s 1-02 Oisin 3-10.