Stratford-Grangecon safe

STRATFORD-G’CON 0-16 ASHFORD 1-7

STRATFORD-GRANGECON secured their Intermediate status with a hard-fought victory over Ashford in Roundwood.

The west men hit the ground running with Kieran Byrne regis- tering a very good point and it was all Stratford-Grangecon early on as they registered at least four wides and spurned a goal chance.

Ashford recovered well and led by a single point coming towards the break, but Manley grabbed the equaliser for Stratford for a 0-7 to 1-4 half-time tally.

The second half saw Stratford-Grangecon dominate and add nine more points through Matt Manley, Jason Bolger, Diarmuid Cronin, Michael Mangan, Mark Murphy (two) and Kieran Byrne to complete a fully deserved six-point victory over Ashford.

The Stratford-Grangecon dressing room afterwards heard words from manager Pat Cronin thanking all for the shift they had put in all year with special mention of the commitment shown by the lads now living an hour or more away from their club. Ashford will have one more chance for survival.