Lee saves the day for Magpies
IN what has proved to be an extremely successful and historic season for Newtown United, the Charlie Bishop Cup found place at home alongside the Wicklow Cup and the Charlie O’Leary in their ever expanding trophy cabinet.
The trophy was secured with a penalty shootout victory over Ashford Rovers after an enthralling game that finished level at 1-1.
Bridgewater Center Park in Arklow was buzzing with excitement on Saturday for the Charlie Bishop Cup final between Newtown United and Ashford Rovers.
Both teams entered the game off the back of very successful seasons and it looked as if the game would be a very close run affair. Newtown began with a bang and nearly opened the scoring after just three minutes through striker Ryan Cahill.
After some good build up play through the midfield, Dean Odlum tried his luck from deep forcing a good save from Ashford keeper Cathal Moody. The ball fell to Cahill just beside the post and from an awkward angle it looked as if he had given Newtown the dream start, however his effort was narrowly cleared off the line by an alert Ashford defender to keep the scores level.
Newtown continued to domi- nate for the opening minutes of the game, producing some fantastic passages of football that delighted the spectators in attendance but struggled to create clear chances against a dogged Ashford Rovers defence.
Cahill was proving to be a useful outlet for Newtown with his willing runs and footwork allowing them to move into advanced areas of the pitch.
This tactic almost worked to Newtown’s favour in the 25th minute as after some tricky play in the wide areas the ball found its way to the feet of Cahill on the corner of the box.
With his back to goal he produced a wonderful overhead effort that narrowly flew wide of the Ashford goal.
This was perhaps the wakeup call that Ashford needed and they began to showcase the qualities which have served them so well in the league this season.
Ashford began seeing much more of the ball and looked to exploit the pace of Danny Byrne and Cian O’Hannin up front.
Byrne looked to have given Ashford the lead in the 30th minute after finding himself through on goal, however he was ruled offside by the officials.
Ashford’s resurgence allowed the game to become a much more free flowing affair with both teams sharing possession and testing the resolve of each defensive line.
There was uproar from the Newtown players and coaches as they felt they had been denied a clear penalty after Cathal Moody seemed to bring down the on rushing Martin Williams. However Moody was adjudged to have taken the ball by the officials, allowing the Ashford players to breathe a sigh of relief.
The second half saw the introduction of Charlie O’Leary Cup final hero Dillon Carthy for Newtown with the hope he could showcase the same heroics he produced on Newtown’s last visit to Arklow.
Newtown started the second half strong with Cahill again finding himself in a goalscoring position after some good play from the energetic Ross Davis, however Cahill saw his effort superbly saved by Cathal Moody in the Ashford goal.
Newtown continued to see the better of the chances in the game and came close again through Evan Moran who headed just wide from a Ryan Cahill cross in the 68th minute of the game.
Newtown saw their efforts rewarded in the 74th minute when substitute Dillon Carthy was bundled over at the far post from a corner. Carthy himself stepped up to put away the resulting kick showcasing once again his appetite for the big occasions.
The lead didn’t last for long however as just six minutes later Ashford hit back through captain Danny Byrne.
After a good delivery into the box from the right hand side, the