ACL Division 3 – Keady Michael Dwyers v. Belleek

Keady Michael Dwyers: 0.16 – Belleek: 1.11

Keady welcomed Belleek to McGleenan park on Wednesday night in a match where the Dwyers needed a win to go two points clear at the top of Division 3. Despite being made to work hard for the victory by a robust Belleek side Keady showed remarkable strength and determination to secure a win by 0.16 to 1.11. This was the closest Keady had been run in the season so far but in the end the Dwyers were more clinical in front of goal than the visitors and deserved the win.

Keady started the game the brightest and within minutes had gone in front with points from Mark Hughes and a rare score from an individual effort by Barry Toal before Belleek got their first score almost immediately after.  The Dwyers extended their lead as Ryan McGale was abruptly stopped in his tracks and the resulting free was converted by the clinical Barry Hughes. However, the game swung in favour of the visitors shortly after as a short free found a Belleek attacker free in the box and he proceeded to slot the ball past Ryan Smith in the Keady goals to put them in front by a single point. A trademark accurate long ball from Barry Toal was picked up by McGale who shook off his marker and levelled matters with a point before a sweeping Keady move between McGale, Toal and the impressive Paul Murray ended in McGale being fouled and Mark Hughes converting the free.  Although the Dwyers were working hard all over the field a total of four unanswered scores for Belleek within the space of five minutes put them in front by three points and looking dangerous in the Keady half.  Points from Barry Hughes and Mark Hughes ended the first half with Belleek a point ahead at 0.07 to 1.05 in favour of the visitors.

Belleek got the first score of the second half to extend their lead but Barry Toal took the ball from midfield and slotted the ball over from the right hand side for his second excellent point of the game. Barry Hughes then levelled the game with a fine score under pressure from the opposition defence but Belleek went in front again with just under five minutes gone in the second half. From this stage onwards the lead exchanged hands several times and this reflected the competitive nature of the game as both teams pushed for the win. Another well taken free from Mark Hughes brought the game level once more and two converted frees from Barry Hughes on either side of a Belleek free edged the Dwyers in front before Belleek levelled matters with a point from a swift attack. This was to be the last time the scoreboard was even as a fantastic long range point from McGale was bettered with another fine point as a cross-field ball from Ryan Comiskey was smartly left by Barry Hughes for McGale to run on to and put the ball over the bar from the left. A contentious free given away in the Keady defence was converted by Belleek before substitute Richie Morgan finished a Keady move with a score from his weaker foot from just inside the ’45 line. Another converted free from the visitors reduced the deficit to a solitary point at the end of the game but the Keady nerves were settled by another score from McGale that finished the game with the Dwyers two points ahead.

Fine performances from Ryan McGale, Mark Hughes, Barry Hughes and Barry Toal certainly helped the Dwyers but overall this was a fine team effort as Keady were pushed harder than any match so far this season and the grit and determination shown here will stand the Dwyers in good stead as they continue to push for an immediate return to Division 2.Keady are looking good value for promotion at the minute, standing at the top of the table with six wins from six games and having defeated the other teams in the top 5, and next up is a visit from bottom-of-the-table Collegelands.

Team: R. Smith, C. Courtney, S. Murray, D. Boylan, B. Toal, R. Mullen, P. Murray, K. Rafferty, C. Nugent (R. Comiskey), D. O’Hea (R. Morgan), R. Brennan, P. Gollogly, M. Hughes, R. McGale, B. Hughes. Unused Subs: C. Comiskey, A. Mone, K. O’Neill, B. Scully, P. Smith, G. Toal, M. Toner.

Scorers:  B.Hughes (0.05), M. Hughes (0.04), R. McGale (0.04), B. Toal (0.2), R. Morgan (0.01)