Ahane 1-8 Newcastlewest 2-8
Newcastlewest prevailed in this third round tie played in Ahane this evening Two first half goals from NCW in the first half helped them to a three point advantage at the break, 2-3 to 0-6. Ahane battled back to level matters with a Dan Morrissey goal midway through the second half; but Newcastlewest fired over three points from close range frees in the final ten minutes to seal a deserved victory, final score 2-8 to 1-8. More …
Newcastlewest got the best of starts with a goal in the opening few minutes after some confusion around the goal mouth in the Ahane full back line. Ahane fought back and Liam Quinn converted his first free-kick from close range after NCW fouled the ball. Minutes later Dan Morrissey added Ahanes second point from thirty meters to narrow the margin to one. NCW then took command and both their wing forward (12) and center forward (11) added further points to increase their lead to four points. Evan O’Neill was wide off the mark and from the resultant kick-out NCW added another and were completely dominant entering the final ten minutes of the first half. Ahane rallied with a Dan Morrissey point from play after good work from Iain Mooney; then Liam Quinn added his second point from a free after William Shanahan was fouled to reduce the deficit to two points. NCW countered however, and Ahane were dealt a sucker punch when NCW’s corner back soloed the length of the field and combined several times with team mates before crashing the ball unopposed to the back of the Ahane net to restore the margin to five points. Ahane replied quickly with a point from play from Liam Quinn after good work by Stephen Droog and the same player converted his third free after Iain Mooney was fouled to leave Ahane trailing by three at the interval. 2-3 to 0-6.
Ahane needed to seize the initiative in the second half but shot wide on two occasions before NCW got their opening attack of the half going. They added a point from wing forward (12) to extend their lead to four points. Ahane playing with a slight wind advantage began to win more of the midfield battles at this stage and Evan O’Neill gained possession, then sliced his way through the NCW defence to drive the ball over the bar to reduce the deficit to three. Five minutes later with Ahane having their best period NCW’s hero, corner back, turned villain for them when he misdirected a hand pass than was intercepted by Dan Morrissey who then drove low and hard to the left corner of the net to level matters.
At this stage it was advantage Ahane as they had the elements behind them. NCW had other ideas though. They proceeded to dominate the key central positions in the final ten minutes and cleverly worked ball through to their full forward line. There, they managed to draw three frees that center forward (11) converted to points to seal a deserved victory and keep their campaign very much alive. For Ahane they’re still in the hunt for a semifinal place but will need to pick it up with tough matches against Fr. Casey’s and Mungret in the coming couple of weeks. They played reasonably well and fought back on a number of occasions and threatened to take this game. However they visibly tired in the closing ten minutes and struggled with some of the physical exchanges in the middle third of the pitch. Ahane will be hoping that injuries to Liam Quinn and Stephen Droog will clear up in the coming weeks. The return of a number of key players unavailable on the night will also be a welcome boost to them as their focus turns towards the Fr. Casey’s match August 16th.
Ahane lined out as follows – John Hourigan, Ryan McAuley, Richard Ryan, Brian O’Keeffe, Seamus Hartnett, Michael Ryan, Alan Cuneen, Dan Morrissey (1-2), Iain Mooney, Stephen Droog, Evan O’Neill (0-1), Liam Quinn (0-5 – 4 from frees), Paul Fanning, Connor McNamara, Andrew Minihan.
Special thanks and best wishes to coach Eanna Kennedy who heads to Pittsburgh USA for the next six months to complete his internship for UL in Physical Education. Ahane look forward to his return and his invaluable experiences as soon as possible. Whilst Eanna is away Ahane will announce some changes to the management team at training this Wednesday so lads please turnout to wish Eanna all the best and to be briefed on some changes we’re making.
