Danny does the damage
ASHFORD FERGAL ÓGS 4-09 1-10
ASHFORD made it two wins from two in their group with a hardearned victory over Fergal Óg to advance into the knockout stages of the Junior ‘C’ championship last Thursday evening.
A personal haul of 3-1 for flying wing forward Danny Byrne was the difference between the home side and their visitors. Fergal’s, after beating Stratford comfortably in their first game, now face a do or die battle with north east rivals Kilcoole to advance out of the group next week.
It looked so different at the beginning as Fergal’s started superbly. They had a three-point cushion after seven minutes as impressive midfielder David Carroll pointed two terrific scores from distance and Matthew Mackie added a free. Centre-forward Cormac Kelly was directing operations at this stage and had a hand in each score.
The early advantage was wiped out in no time however as a long Trevor Conyard ball was fielded under pressure on the edge of the square by evergreen Philip Doyle and he was hauled down. Referee Gerry Corbett awarded the penalty, up stood Danny Byrne and he made no mistake as he struck it down the middle of the goal to tie things up.
From the kick-out, the ball was won by the Ashford men and after good interplay the ball was transferred to nippy corner-forward Gary Maguire who clipped a beautiful point. Just as it appeared the home side were getting on top, that man Carroll again came to the fore for the visitors. He landed a bomb of an effort that eventually landed on the top of Lar Newsome’s net.
Trevor Conyard, fresh out of retirement, struck a point after good work by wing forward Adam Hill to restore the Ashford lead and moments later the two combined again with Hill providing the finish.
Ill-discipline from the Ashford rearguard allowed the accurate Gavin Harris strike three frees on the trot to push Fergal’s back into the lead. However, as they were on top at this stage some woeful shooting stopped them building on their advantage.
Five minutes of injury time was played at the end of the first half and during this spell Ashford got a stranglehold. Firstly, Hill pointed a free then in the last attack of the half, Ashford broke from deep. A glorious 30-yard Trevor Conyard fist pass took out a number of Fergal’s men to free up his brother Paul, he found marauding centre-back Sean Beale on the end line, whose centered ball located Danny Byrne at the far post and the poacher hammered home a major to give the black and amber a huge confidence boost and the lead by 2-4 to 0-7 at the interval.
The second half was a scrappy tight affair with scores hard to come by. Doyle got a score for Ashford before David Melican replied for Fergal’s. These were the only scores for the first 20 minutes of the half as both defences got on top.
As the game entered the latter stages Ashford sprung veteran Adrian Marah from the bench and he brought a composure and direction that had been lacking. His industry allowed space for Doyle to get a second point. A long range free by Trevor Conyard dropped into the small rectangle as a mass of arms, legs and bodies combined the ball dropped to Marah who without thought, volleyed an effort home with his weaker right boot that Alan Shearer would have been proud of to stretch the lead to seven.
Cormac Kelly responded for Fergal’s before a Danny Byrne rocket cannoned off the bar and over. Fergal’s kept fighting and for a brief moment an unlikely comeback looked like happening. Harris pointed before that man Carroll got on the end of a flowing move and arrowed a shot into Newsome’s net to leave it a one score game.
Ashford’s response was immediate and devastating. Hill pointed a free and was unlucky to see a boxed effort clip the bar and bounce over and Danny Byrne palmed home in stoppage time to finally vanquish the gallant Fergal’s.