ACL Division III – Middletown v. Keady Michael Dwyers

Middletown : 2.09 – Keady : 0.12

Keady travelled the short distance to neighbours Middletown in the latest ACL Division III fixture, a game where the Dwyers were unfortunate to come away with a three-point defeat in only their second defeat of the season so far. Two goals from the home team proved crucial in the end in a match that truly could have gone either way but it was Keady who ended up on the wrong side of the result.

It was Keady who started the game the brightest, dominating most of the opening exchanges and showing great determination in fighting for every ball. This early pressure resulted in Mark Hughes having the opportunity to put Keady in front and Hughes made no mistake with a point from the left. Almost immediately the Dwyers doubled their lead as an incisive ball from Conor Nugent into the Keady forward line was picked up by Ryan McGale who turned his man and fired over the bar to put his team two points ahead. This was quickly followed by an excellent point from Kevin O’Neill, finishing off a swift team move, and another point from McGale after Stephen Murray rose highest for the ball and laid it off for McGale to hit his second point in as many minutes. After a period of both teams hitting wides it was left to Mark Hughes to slot over his second point from an acute angle to put the Dwyers five points clear and looking the better team. However, local derbies are rarely so straight-forward and a moment of indecisiveness in the Keady defence allowed Middletown the chance to slot the ball past Adam Ashforth in the Keady nets for their first score of the game, a real sucker-punch for the visitors.

The deficit was reduced to a solitary point as Middletown followed this with a point but a free from Ryan McGale reinstated the two point lead.  With just over ten minutes left of the first half Middletown pulled back another point before three unanswered points from Mark Hughes evidenced the tough time the Middletown defence were having in trying to contain him. The first half ended with a point from the home team to leave Keady in front by three points with a scoreline of 1.03 to 0.09 and the Dwyers were certainly well worth their lead.

The second half began in stark contrast to the first, with Middletown on top and within minutes a converted free and a ’45 had brought them to within a point of the Dwyers. At this stage the game could have swung dramatically in favour of Middletown as the ball was worked through the Keady defence and only a fine block from Adam Ashforth prevented the Dwyers from going behind so early in the second half. The scores were briefly levelled by a Middletown free but a Mark Hughes point after a layoff from Paddy Smyth edged Keady in front once more. With the match close to the end of the third quarter the game swung in favour of the home team as a point from play was added to by a converted free to edge Middletown in front for the first time.

As the home team sensed the win was there to be won a point from Middletown was cancelled out by another free from Hughes but as Keady pushed on to level matters a number of shots either fell short or sailed wide of the posts. However, Keady were afforded the chance to go back in front as the ball was worked into the Middletown box only for Ryan McGale to be upended by a dangerous challenge and as Mark Hughes stepped up to convert the resulting penalty he was unfortunate to see his shot tipped over the bar by the Middletown ‘keeper. This point levelled the scores once again but the defining moment of the match was still to come as the kickout was won by the Middletown midfield and the ball was played down to the Keady box and slotted into the top right hand corner of the nets to give Middletown the win and the two league points on offer.

This was a disappointing result for Keady in a match where either side would have felt hard done by to lose, and whilst the same two teams will meet again in the Intermediate Championship on Saturday 25th July there shouldn’t be too much read into this match as form tends to be unimportant when it comes to Championship fixtures.