Conyard shines as Glenealy get the better of Avondale

at Glenealy

way they handled the heavy sod. Lifting and striking were the order of the day.

The early stages of the first half were evenly balanced.

An Alan Conyard first minute point followed by a Wayne O’Gorman goal a minute later gave the home side an early lead but the Dales settled and a Niall Heffernan pointed free followed by a Brian Burke point got them on the scoreboard.

Gavin Weir and Wayne O’Gorman added two Glenealy points to push their side out ahead again.

A fine Paul Gahan goal on twelve minutes followed by a pointed free from Eugene Dunne left the game all square with 14 minutes gone.

Glenealy got on top in the second quarter and went on to establish an eight-point lead by the break.

Three points by Gavin Weir, Alan Conyard and Shane Keogh were responded to by a Eugene Dunne Avondale point.

Another Alan Conyard point, plus two long range scores from centre back Matthew Traynor pushed Glenealy five points clear coming up to the break.

The always dangerous Alan Conyard netted his team’s second goal just before the half-time whistle to leave Glenealy ahead by 2-9 to 1-4 and looking to be in the driving seat.

The second period began with Glenealy still in the ascendancy. A first minute Gavin Weir point was followed by Alan Conyard’s second goal.

With a 12-point margin to be made up, things were looking bad for the Dales.

However, they began to shake themselves up and the mid field diamond of Shane Byrne, Eamon Kearns, Eugene Dunne and centre forward Paul Gahan began to have a far greater influence on the game.

Eanna Owens had a point from play followed by two Niall Heffernan pointed frees.

Alan Conyard responded with a Glenealy free but when Eamon Kearns beat the Glenealy defence to goal a close in free, confidence levels began to rise in Avondale’s play. Further points from Kearns, Paul Gahan, two from Kearns again and one from Eugene Dunne had the lead down to three points as the second half drew to a close.

Avondale almost got the levelling goal when Glenealy goalie Cian Staunton’s great save from Avondale substitute Ross Ward rebounded to Brian Burke.

Unfortunately, Burke’s effort went outside the post. Gavin Weir finished the half with Glenealy’s fourth goal thus leaving the home side with a slightly flattering six points win. 4-12 to 2-12.

Glenealy Alan Conyard 2-5, Gavin Weir 1-3, Wayne O’Gorman 1-1, Matt Traynor 0-2 and Shane Keogh 0-1.

Avondale: Paul Gahan 1-1, Niall

Scorers:

Heffernan 0-4, Eamon Kearns 1-3, Eugene Dunne 0-2, Brian Burke 0-1 and Eanna Owens 0-1.

Cian Staunton; Robin Keogh, Joe Driver, Stefan O’Brien; Declan Conyard, Matthew Trainor, Liam de Hora; Ronan Manley, Paul O’Brien; Shane Keogh, Gavin Weir, Brendan Hawes; Alan Conyard, Wayne O’Gorman, Garry Hughes. Subs: Fionan McLoughlin, James Byrne.

Glenealy:

Eugene Heffernan; Anthony O’Toole, James Doyle, Roy Byrne; Keith Byrne, Shane Byrne, Conor Sheehan; Eugene Dunne, Eamon Kearns; Niall Heffernan, Paul Gahan, Danny Owens; Jack Manley, Brian Burke, Eanna Owens. Subs: Dean Gahan, Ross Ward, Cathal Doyle, Niall Murphy, Dermot Phelan.

C. O Ceidigh (Kilcoole)

Avondale: Referee: