ACL Division 3 – Annaghmore v. Keady Michael Dwyers

Annaghmore : 0.08 – Keady Michael Dwyers : 1.11

Keady travelled to Annaghmore on Sunday afternoon in the second fixture of the new ACL Division 3 league season and came away with an impressive win by a score of 1.11 to 0.08 in favour of the visitors. Having started the season with a win away to St. Peters, Keady came into this game looking for another win in an attempt to bounce back to Division 2 at the first try after relegation to Division 3 last year and this game represented another two points on offer.

The match started in a scrappy manner with both teams striving to gain a foothold in the game and Annaghmore were close to taking the lead just a few minutes into the game but were denied by a fine block from Keady ‘keeper Adam Ashforth in the first real attack of the game. Both teams exchanged wides in the early stages of the first half with Keady particularly wasteful in front of goal but Mark Hughes drew first blood with a point after seven minutes to give the Dwyers the lead. The visitors doubled their lead soon after this, Paul Gollogly laying the ball off the Eugene McDonnell who slotted the ball over the bar. Gollogly again was the provider when he intercepted the ball and passed it to Ryan McGale who was able to shake off his marker and put Keady three points in front. At this stage the Dwyers were dominating proceedings and went further ahead in route-one style, Barry Toal receiving the kickout from Ashforth then playing an exquisite cross-field ball to Ryan Comiskey who duly pointed from the right. Annaghmore got off the mark halfway through the first half with a free from just outside the 21 yard line to reduce the deficit to three points again, but another free from Mark Hughes reinstated the four point lead for the Dwyers. Two points in quick succession from the home team, one a free, showed that Annaghmore weren’t going to roll over as they began to get into the game more but McDonnell showed great strength to catch a Keady kickout and slotted the ball to Hughes for his third point of the game. The first half was brought to an end with two points from Annaghmore, either side of another point from Hughes, to leave the scores at 0.07 – 0.05 to the Dywers who looked full value for their lead.

The second half began as the first half ended, with a point from distance for Annaghmore, as the home team looked to overturn the deficit and were close to taking the lead just minutes into the second half after Comiskey had rattled the bar following some great build up play from Keady forwards Hughes and McGale only for Annaghmore to play the ball straight down the pitch and again be denied by a fantastic reflex save from Ashforth in the Keady goal.  This close call seemed to galvanise the Dwyers and it was not long until the visitors edged further in front as Keady forward Chrissy Woods received the ball from McGale and scored his first point of the game with a well struck score from the right-hand side. The next score for the Dywers came from a Mark Hughes free after Comiskey was abruptly stopped in his tracks just outside the 21 yard line to bring the score to 0.09 to 0.06, twelve minutes into the second half. Another score from the impressive Hughes, receiving the ball from substitute Barry Hughes, extended Keady’s lead to four points once more and Keady were looking like the more likely victors in this match as the solid Keady defence limited chances for the home team.

With around ten minutes of the match remaining the teams again exchanged points as Annaghmore scored with another free and McDonnell expertly converted a ’45 for the Dwyers. As Annaghmore battled to gain something from the match there wasn’t another score until five minutes from time as both sides cancelled each other out, but a point from the home team left the difference between the teams a dangerous three point lead for Keady and Annaghmore pushed for a goal to level the scores with minutes remaining. They were very nearly rewarded for their efforts as a lapse in the Keady defence allowed a shot on goal which was tipped onto the bar by a combination of Ashforth and Paul Murray, letting Keady off the hook. However, Keady were soon able to kill off the match as Barry Hughes received the ball from McGale on the right wing then beat his man and fisted the ball to Mark Hughes who had made himself space and was able to calmly drive the ball past the Annaghmore ‘keeper and bring his personal tally for the match to 1.6 and end the game with the scores at 1.11 to 0.08 to the Dwyers.

Overall this was a good result for Keady against a tough Annaghmore side that made the Dwyers work hard for the victory, making it two league wins from two as Keady continue to adapt to Division 3 football and this result and performance gives the Dwyers momentum going into next week’s clash with Clonmore.

Team: A.Ashforth, C.Courtney, S.Murray, D.Boylan, B.Toal (C), R.Mullen, P.Murray, K.Rafferty, C.Nugent (D.O’Hea), R.Comiskey, E.McDonnell, P.Gollogly (B.Hughes), M.Hughes, R.McGale, C.Woods. Subs: G.Enwright, C.Murphy, R.O’Hagan, D.Nugent, P.Smith, G.Toal.

Scorers: M.Hughes- 1.06, E.McDonnell- 0.02, R.Comiskey- 0.01, R.McGale- 0.01, C.Woods- 0.01