Ball remains fully in Ashford’s court
THE ball remains in Ashford Rovers’ court in the Premier title race.
Despite taking a first minute lead in Finlay Park on Friday evening, they needed a late goal to avoid defeat and to avoid handing the baton to Wicklow Town.
Luke Byrne fired Rovers ahead after only 38 seconds but an evening to forget for Ashford goalkeeper Graham Mooney saw Town hit back and lead by the 62nd minute.
Defeat on Friday for Rovers would have seen the title race taken out of their hands and instead passed to Town but Byrne’s late leveller ensures it’s all to play for still.
Town’s Kenneth Turner’s clean sheet lasted less than 40 seconds. A floated ball along Rovers’ right flank was deemed to have remained in play by Gavin Colfer. Mick Delaney’s header was weak and Byrne took control before surging towards goal. He chipped it forward and with Turner unsighted by the sun, the effort hovered into the top corner.
Niall Mooney decided to test out the young goalkeeper in the fifth with a strike from distance. His parry spilled loose in front of Danny Byrne but the attacker struck the post and was offside in any case.
Rovers felt they were done out of a corner in the 19th minute and to make it worse, Town netted from the resulting kick-out. Brendan Cox nodded on Turner’s clearance and Ashford right-back Michael Taylor tried to help it back to Graham Mooney. The pass could have been tamer but it still should have been okay for Mooney to deal with. Unfortunately the netminder got his feet in a muddle and watched in horror as it tricked in off the post.
Both sides continued to cancel each other out until the hour mark when Danny Byrne broke up the field at full steam. He was flattened but Colfer played the advantage and Luke Byrne picked up where his namesake had let off. His wicked cross towards the back post seemed to take a nick as it whizzed inches wide but the away side were denied a flag kick and it left them incensed.
And within a minute they trailed. Conor Cox fired in an effort from the left that Mooney tried to shovel away but his save deflected the ball straight to John Moorehouse who was only too happy to dispatch it to the now empty net.
Mooney’s face told its own story but by the 81st minute there was a smile creeping back onto it. He punted a long ball up to his brother Dean and his flick on guided the ball into Luke Byrne’s path. He had the pace to escape the defence and he slid it beyond Turner to ensure that Rovers would not submit their unbeaten league record.
Town could still have claimed maximum points. On 89 minutes, Cox’s cross was missed by the Town defence and Johnny Carton snatched at it but fired it wide. The Town substitute did not appear to be expecting the ball to make it to him.
But then Rovers had a nearly moment of their own when Brian Coen’s corner was turned goalwards and blocked on the line by Tommy Kelly and Brendan Manning’s follow-up was also stopped short by a matter of inches.
Both sides were probably reasonably content to escape with a share of the spoils as there is a lot of football still to be played and as is proved time and time again; anything can happen in the Wicklow League.
Top Form: Luke Byrne (Ashford Rovers): Head and shoulders above the rest.
Scorers - Wicklow Town A 2 (G. Mooney OG 19, Moorehouse 62), Ashford Rovers A 2 (L. Byrne 1, 81)
Wicklow Town: 1. Kenneth Turner, 2. Leonard Carton, 3. Mick Delaney, 4. Tommy Kelly, 5. Ian Brannigan, 6. Peter Finnegan, 7. John Connors, 8. Alan Delaney, 9. Gareth Murphy, 10. John Moorehouse, 11. Brendan Cox. Subs: Eddie Kelly for Moorehouse (66); Johnny Carton for Brannigan (78); Simon Bouchier for A. Delaney (85).
Ashford Rovers: 1. Graham Mooney, 2. Michael Taylor, 3. Andrew Reilly, 4. Michael Dickenson, 5. Brian Coen, 6. Jamie Kelly, 7. Finn Brooks, 8. Niall Mooney, 9. Danny Byrne, 10. Dean Mooney, 11. Luke Byrne. Subs: Brendan Manning for N. Mooney (65); Callum Pursey for Brooks (76).
Referee: Gavin Colfer. Venue: Ballinalea Park, Ash-