Enniskerry pip Avoca to claim Junior title
THIS match got off to a blistering start with neither side willing to give an inch of the field up without a fight and this was blatantly evident when before the ball was even in play a scuffle broke out with players getting to know one another.
Avoca got off to the better start with a point inside the opening minute from the boot of Dale Fluskey. Enniskerry’s defence looked to have the number 15 bottled up but he broke free and off the left popped it over the bar.
Enniskerry were finding it hard to get to the pace of the game but their nerves were settling and they got off the mark in the eighth minute with a point from Colm Nolan. Great teamwork led to the score with fine passing between Craig Williams and Luke Dalton finding Nolan in space and from distance he slotted it over the bar.
From the resulting kick-out, a foul on Enniskerry number Luke Dalton led to a ball from Craig Williams into Anthony O’Neill who gathered out in front of his man, laid the ball off to Colm Nolan who spilled possession but it fell kindly for Gavin Barton who threaded the ball in through the eye of a needle to Alan Acres who held off his man and rifled the ball to the back of the Avoca net.
Not to be outdone, Avoca make an immediate response from the boot of number Chris Arthur after a long gut-busting run from Andrew Doyle Jnr.
Ennikserry’s centre half forward Brendan Barton replied with an absolute monster of a score.
The game up to this point was being played at a furious pace with both sides going at it hard and fast, exactly how championship football is supposed to be played.
A free in the 15th minute from Gavin Barton pushed the Enniskerry lead out to 1-3 to 0-2 after a dominant spell of possession. The game went through a spell of foot tennis then, with the ball going from end to end but unfortunately for both sets of forward they were finding it extremely hard to break down the opposition defence.
As the half was coming into the closing stage a point from PJ Fluskey brought an end to the dominant defensive display after a free from Stephen McCauley went short to Dale Fluskey who laid it off to Martin Kenny who fisted it into Fluskey who popped it over the bar off his left.
The game was brought to a temporary stoppage when two Avoca men collided as they battled to gain possession from a kick out. With Enniskerry in possession, a free was played short from Craig Williams to AJ Porter and he turned on a sixpence, ran straight for goal but he opted to pop the ball over the bar to keep the scoreboard ticking along rather than go in search of a major. Enniskerry quickly added to their lead with another point from Luke Wrynn after good work from Gavin Barton to leave the half-time score line reading: Enniskerry 1-5, Avoca 0-6.
Enniskerry got the second half to a great start with AJ Porter gaining possession off the throw up and heading straight for the goal. As the distance from goal was reducing at a matter of knots, an Avoca defender came across and gave away a free. Up stands Gavin Barton who fires it over the bar.
After a spell of good strong defending it took another five minutes before another white flag would be raised.
This time, as Avoca were looking to work the ball out from their back line, the ball was overturned by Dean Carter and Alan Acres gained possession and without even looking at the posts he drove the ball off his left and the roar from the crowd went up.
Avoca got their first score of the half with seven minutes on the clock after a foul on Martin Kenny when the Enniskerry defence looked to have the player bottled up, but with the sound of Pat Dunne’s whistle a bit of verbals meant the ball was moved forward and Martin Kenny put the ball on the floor and divided the post in half.
Minutes later and Avoca had a goal chance to bring them right back into the hunt only for a pointblank save from Enniskerry goalie Ian Kirwan after a shot from PJ Fluskey. In the lead up to that attack Dean Power put his head in where it hurt to get the ball to PJ Fluskey and once the ball was saved by Ian Kirwan referee Pat Dunne called the ball back and Martin Kenny tipped over the free.
A long break in play followed after two Avoca players collided in the air and from the resulting restart Avoca worked the ball into Dean Power who found himself in open space and he fired over to reduce the deficit down to two.
Then came the second Enniskerry major of the game. A long free from Gavin Barton dropped short and as the hands went up the ball dropped to the ground and it was volleyed to the back of the net by Brendan Barton.
The resulting kick-out was won by the hard-working AJ Porter who played the ball off to his midfielder Craig Williams who fired over a monster point from out the 45 to stretch the Enniskerry lead out to six points.
Enniskerry were reduced to 14 with normal time nearly up for an off-the-ball incident. Avoca keep battling hard, they were not willing to allow Enniskerry get the cup without a major battle, and a point from Dean Power reduced the margin down to five.
Another point from Power reduces the margin even further but with time against them Avoca needed a goal to get this game back into the melting pot.
With Avoca pushing forward in search of that elusive goal, it left some extra space in their defence and it allowed Alan Acres to settle the Enniskerry ship with another sweet strike off his left.
With the clock well into injury time the white flag was raised for the final time after a sweeping move out from the defence allowed Gavin Barton the task of splitting the post one last time.
The whistles could be heard from the Enniskerry fans as they prayed for the end. After suffering a few defeats over the past few years the relief can be felt when Pat Dunne puts the whistle to his lips to close out a pulsating game where the better team on the day ran out deserving winners on a score line of Enniskerry 2-10, Avoca 0-10.
Scorers – Enniskerry Alan Acres 1-2, Gavin Barton 0-4, Brendan Barton 1-1, Colm Nolan 0-1, Luke Wrynn 0-1, AJ Porter 0-1.
Avoca: Martin Kenny 0-4, Dean Power 0-3, Chris Arthur 0-1, PJ Fluskey 0-1, Dale Fluskey 0-1.
ENNISKERRY: Ian Kirwan; Luke Dalton, Daniel Kelly, Mark Mullen; AJ Porter, Seamus O’Gorman, Jack Conroy; Colm Nolan, Craig Williams; Stephen Cahill, Brendan Barton, Luke Wrynn; Alan Acres, Gavin Barton, Anthony O Neill. Subs: Eoin Corrigan, Rhys Cope.
AVOCA: Aidan Murray; Liam Dickenson, Robert Wilson, Colin O’Connor; Colin Doran, Mikey Fahy, Dean Carter; Martin Kenny, Stephen McCauley; Andrew Doyle Jnr, Dean Power, Chris Arthur; Aaron Tuke, PJ Fluskey, Dale Fluskey. Subs: Anthony Doran, Michael O’Neill, Andrew Doyle Snr.
REFEREE: Pat Dunne (Hollywood)