Newtown send ’Dales into relegation dogfight

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to three points. Emmet O’Sullivan and his backroom staff had a lot to do at half-time to rally his troops and make any alterations to try get his side back into the game.

He decided to bring off Jack Manley, who was one of Avondale’s better first half performers, but he was on a yellow card so maybe that was the thinking behind O’Sullivan’s madness. He brought on Padraig Geoghegan to add a new dimension to his midfield, with Sean McGraynor pushing further forward.

Avondale were dealt a sucker punch just 30 seconds into the second half, as they conceded another goal, and a poor one on their behalf. They allowed half back Adam Heffernan to run half the length of the pitch unchallenged. Heffernan was then in the clear to rifle the ball into Brian Burke’s top right corner to extend the deficit the eight points.

This goal would either kill off the Rathdrum outfit or wake them up. A free from Oisin McGraynor and a fisted point from Conor Byrne showed that the side were going to fight.

Though Newtown should have had the game killed off in the next few minutes. They fired four wides in five minutes, including two decent goal opportunities from Ross Davis, which would have finished Avondale off.

Avondale had a goal chance of their own on 40 minutes as firstly a Sean McGraynor shot was smartly saved by Kenneth Turner but the ball fell to his younger brother Oisin but Turner did well yet again to smother the oncoming danger.

Three minutes later and the ball was in the net for the Dales, and it was Conor Byrne who turned it home. A lofted ball into the danger zone by substitute Padraig Geoghegan, was met by the fist of Byrne who rose highest to punch the ball into the onion sack. The difference now four points.

Byrne was making some very positive darting runs in the second half with his pace causing trouble, whereas at the other end of the field, Saoirse Kearon was cleaning up very well and regaining possession on many occasions.

Ross Davis and Oisin McGraynor traded scores after substitute Donal McGraynor pointed. The possible game changing moment came in the 52nd minute as referee Phillip Bracken awarded Avondale a penalty and an opportunity to level the game. Good interplay by Eugene Dunne and Conor Byrne helped set up Dean Gahan but Kenneth Turner came out and took him down. The whistle blew, and Bracken spread out his arms to signal a penalty. Oisin McGraynor stepped up to take it and he delivered with a sweet finish to wrongfoot Turner.

This was going to be a great battle to the end with both sides breaking up the field well. Padraig Geoghegan had made a great impact since coming on with his positivity on the ball driving the Avondale men forward. Newtown looked to have won it one minute into injury time as Dean Odlum cut inside onto his right foot to fired the ball over the bar. But Conor Byrne cancelled it out with a superb point into the heavens.

But as injury time ticked by Newtown advanced further and further up the field and they were awarded a free along the left wing. Up stepped Ross Davis, who fired the ball straight between the posts. The Magpies kept possession for the next minute and then time was up.

Newtown have now secured their senior status for another year, whereas last year’s semi-finalists Avondale have one game to save theirs, a huge clash with Annacurra. They will need to show the spirit they showed in the second half of this game to not suffer the embarrassment of relegation.

Newtown – Ross Davis 0-3 (2f); Conor Odlum 1-0; Adam Heffernan 1-0; Dean Odlum 0-2; Mark Fitzsimons 0-1; Neil Martin 0-1; Paul O Riordan 0-1; Shane Mooney 0-1.

Avondale – Oisin McGraynor 1-3 (2f); Conor Byrne 1-2; Jack Manley 0-1; Conor McGraynor 0-1 (1f); Donal McGraynor.

Kenneth Turner; Darren Walsh, Shane Mooney, Karl Carthy; Adam Heffernan, Neil Martin, Darah Callan; Paul O Riordan, Mark Fitzsimons; Luke Martin, Dean Odlum, Glen Carthy; Ross Davis, Sean Gregory, Conor Odlum.

Brian Burke; Simon Cullen, Saoirse Kearon, Shane Beevor; Liam Kinsella, Eoin Baker, Shane Byrne; Adam Benson Byrne, Sean McGraynor; Oisin McGraynor, Conor Byrne, Jack Manley; Conor McGraynor, Eugene Dunne, Ross Ward. Subs: Padraig Geoghegan for Manley (HT); Donal McGraynor for C McGraynor (43 mins); Dean Gahan for S McGraynor (50 mins).

Phillip Bracken

Scorers: Newtown: Avondale: Referee: