FIVE-STAR ’STONES
Keogh shines as United put Avonmore to the sword
GREYSTONES UTD AVONMORE B 5 1
INSPIRED by a five-star performance by play-maker Oisin Keogh, Greystones United recorded their first win in this season’s Wicklow League Division Two campaign as they convincingly put Avonmore ‘B’ to the sword at Woodlands on Sunday afternoon.
Operating in a central midfield role, Keogh hardly put a foot wrong throughout the 90 minutes, displaying excellent ball control, and proving the ideal link man between defence and attack by spraying a succession of inch-perfect passes to his teammates which consistently put the visiting team under pressure.
As well, the Greystones No 6 also showed that he is not lacking in the goal-scoring department, putting his side into a 3-0 lead after just six minutes following a pacey run which saw him outstrip a number of Avonmore defenders from almost the half-way line.
After just two minutes, Anto Fermoyle opened the scoring for the home side, and almost straight from the resultant kick-off some neat inter-play between Greystones duo Mark McHugh and Kyle Howard saw the former take a return pass before finding the net.
On 21 minutes, Greystones went 4-0 ahead through Howard, and after Cody Reid pulled a goal back for the Rathdrum side on 35 minutes, Howard restored the home side’s four goal advantage three minutes before the half-time break.
Right from the opening whistle, Greystones underlined their intent to end their losing run by the high intensity and marked endeavour of their play, and it was no surprise when the very busy Fermoyle opened their account.
Following a cross by Mark Lynch, Howard flicked the ball on to Fermoyle, and the No 9 finished emphatically from close range, and within a minute McHugh put the eventual winners further in front.
But then the action switched to the other end of the field, and the visiting outfit put the opposing defence under severe pressure by forcing two corners in the space of a minute.
To the disappointment of the Avonmore fans, both deliveries proved fruitless, however, and those squandered opportunities proved additionally costly when almost immediately Keogh got his name on the scoresheet for Greystones.
On 20 minutes, Fermoyle delivered in a dangerous cross from the right wing, but none of his teammates were in a position to get on the end of it. However, within a minute, Howard brilliantly robbed an opposing defender before beating Avonmore ‘keeper Daniel Morley to put his side 4-0 up.
But 10 minutes later, Reid provided the visitors with a modicum of hope by hammering the ball home following a free-kick, only for Howard to balance out that score just before the interval.
For the second half, both sets of defences generally held the upper-hand, with the result that no serious goal chances arguably materialised at either end of the field.
Probably the closest one of the sides came to finding the net was when Greystones’ Dave O’Sullivan crashed a great shot off the bar on 63 minutes.
Afterwards the winners’ manager Derek White said: ‘Having lost our first four matches it’s great to get a win under our belts today, and this result will give the lads a lot of confidence for our future matches.
‘But, in fairness, we played very well in our previous matches and we were a bit unlucky in a few of them. That was particularly the case in our first match against Coolboy, when we lost 1-0 to a penalty.
‘As well, some of the teams were of a higher standard as they had some of their first team players from last season, whereas we have a combination of lads from last year and some under-19s in our team.
‘In today’s match the three early goals were a huge boost, and we were in a comfortable position at half-time leading by five goals to one. We would like to have added to our total in the second half, but we were out of luck with a few decent efforts.
‘Avonmore could also have scored one or two in the second half, but overall I thought we played the better football throughout the match.
‘And while we scored a few goals in our earlier games, we’ve been conceding too many, and so it was very encouraging that today we restricted Avonmore to just one goal.
‘As well, I was very happy with our link-up play and we generally kept possession of the ball very well.’
Commenting on the match, Avonmore boss Paddy Fox said: ‘We lost our first three matches, but we got a win against Ballywaltrim last week, so now we’re back in the hole again.
‘It’s a young team, they’re only coming together really, and it’s going to take time with them.
‘Obviously, it was a huge blow to concede the three goals so early in the match, and our ‘keeper may have been affected by the strong sun in his eyes.
‘And shortly afterwards we were four-nil down before we knew it, and it was very difficult for us to come back from that situation.
‘In fairness to the lads, they battled hard right to the end of the match so you couldn’t find any fault with them in that regard.
‘Greystones played some very tidy football, and, of course, it’s a big help to them that they are very used to the astro-turf surface.’
GREYSTONES UNITED: Denis Burke; Richard Carroll, Macdara Kelly, Joseph Gerrard, Jamie Plant; Dave O’Sullivan, Oisin Keogh, Kyle Howard, Mark Lynch; Anto Fermoyle, Mark McHugh. Subs: Sam Gamell for Macdara Kelly (half-time), Doonan Bradley for Kyle Howard (half-time), Jason Healy for Richard Carroll (72).
AVONMORE:
Daniel Morley; Wes O’Toole, Andrew Browne, Brendan Gahan, Jordan Chandler, Ryan Werder, Declan Breslin, Alfie Breslin, Todd Byrne, Cody Reid, Jake Hamilton.
REFEREE:
Dominic Lachaussee