JOY FOR ASHFORD AS
ASHFORD TINAHELY 1-11 1-09
COUNTY finals need big players to stand up and be counted and Ashford’s Trevor Conyard was a huge driving force for his side as they came with a late burst to see off Tinahely in the Junior C football final in Pearse’s Park, Arklow, last Saturday afternoon.
Conyard’s mighty shift from centre-half forward, which includes six points, four from frees, was helped in the second half by the introduction of substitute Wayne O’Gorman who, although not moving as quickly or as freely as he once did, still possesses an impressive footballing intelligence, buckets of bravery and a very keen eye for a score.
It would be O’Gorman who would put his body on the line as we entered the last 10 minutes of this entertaining clash to win a penalty from referee Keith Peppard which full-forward Danny Byrne dispatched past Kevin Darcy to level matters at 1-08 to 1-08.
In truth, it could be said that substitutions were the key to the winning of this game. In the opening half, Ashford were getting little or no ball into their inside line and what ball was going in was coming out just as fast thanks to the superb showing from Brian Hickey at full-back for Tinahely.
Ashford were unable to provide the speedy Danny Byrne with any half decent ball and but for the work of Trevor Conyard and Adam Hill, Ashford may well have struggled to score at all in the opening 30.
Tinahely on the other hand were playing the better football in the opening half. They were moving the ball better and finding their men and their first half goal from Noel Mulhall, who bundled it over the line against Lar Newsome, left them with a 1-05 to 0-05 lead at the break.
Wayne O’Gorman appeared on the scene after the break and things started to change. Anto Driver and Sean Duffy started to grow more into the game, Trevor Conyard started to dictate more and Tinahey started to kick some aimless efforts that tailed harmlessly wide and deflated their hitherto effective play.
The earlier ball that had been so capably defended by Tinahely was now starting to stick and, although Ashford were guilty of a collection of poor wides, they started to put pressure on the Tinahely defence. As well as O’Gorman, Ashford also sent in Adrian ‘Trapper’ Marah and David Nolan into the fray and it was ‘Trapper’ who used his vast wealth of experience to win frees and he even popped over a point at a key moment in the second half.
On the other hand, Tinahely’s substitutions didn’t have the desired effect at all and it was these changes that ultimately decided the outcome of this game.
It was hard to see an Ashford victory at the half-time break. Tina- hely looked like the side capable of playing the better football and popping over the vital scores. With Tony Lacey, Brian Hickey and Thomas Dalton looking very efficient at the back and Willie Quaile, Kevin Doyle and Ray McGlynn looking assured, it was difficult to see where Ashford scores were going to come from other than the boot of Trevor Conyard.
Tinahely opened the scoring with a fine Niall Gorman effort. Ashford had attacked previous to this but Philip Doyle had fouled Brian Hickey and Ketih Peppard had signalled a free out.
Trevor Conyard would open the scoring from a free after a foul on Danny Byrne who had Tony Lacey for company as Tinahely looked to nullify the threat of the Wicklow soccer star.
A sweet Conor Kenny point edged Tinahely in front before Stewart Gilbert brought a save out of Lar Newsome whose deflection sent the ball over the bar to give Tinahely a 0-03 to 0-01 lead after 10 minutes.
Conyard from a free kept Ashford in touch before Anthony Phelan got his first point. However, Ashford stepped up to the plate in the next five minutes and record points from Trevor Conyard and Adam Hill who had the misfortune of breaking his nose in the warm up but who bravely opted to play regardless.
Good work at the back by Kevin Doyle for Tinahely allowed them to move up the field in a sweeping move involving Wille Quaile and David Dillon. A pop shot for a point from Anthony Phelan didn’t have the legs and dropped into the hands of Lar Newsome but there to presurise the Ashford keeper was Noel Muhall. Newsome spilled the ball and Mulhall fell to the ground and somehow shunted the ball over the line and after a brief discussion the green flag was waved and the goal stood, 1-04 to 0-04 for Tinahely.
It was all Tinahely now and two from Anthony Phelan and one from Shane Kenny pushed them out to a 1-07 to 0-05 lead at the break.
O’Gorman’s introduction was important in the sense of the scoring threat he carried but Ashford’s resurgence out around the middle can also be suggested as the key aspect to the recovery.
Tinahely fired five wides in the second half before their first score and that came from Stewart Gilbert but Ashford had already bagged their opening score of the second period from the boot of Philip Doyle.
Trevor Conyard’s superb play continued and he fired over a free after 14 minutes to make it 1-08 to 0-07 with the whole feel of the game changing in favour of Ashford you felt.
Adrian Marah pointed before Anthony Phelan found the side net and Trevor Conyard went wide.
And then came the key moment. Anto Driver sent a long ball to Marah who was out in front of his man. ‘Trapper’ turned and sent in a high ball off his left towards Wayne O’Gorman. O’Gorman was being kept company by Ray McGlynn and as O’Gorman retreated with McGlynn in front, Tony Lacey came in from behind with eyes on the ball and clattered into O’Gorman. The ball fell to the waiting Danny Byrne who volleyed home to the back of the net but Peppard had already sounded his whistle and held those muscular Hollywood arms aloft for the penalty.
It looked like there was only going to be one man to take the penalty and that was Danny Byrne. He stepped up, placed the ball, took his few steps back and slipped it low and a tad unconvincingly it has to be said past Kevin Darcy who guessed right but couldn’t keep it out. Byrne set off on a celebratory run like a young, randy stag in search of a foxy female and the game was tied at 1-08 apiece.
A foul on Adrian ‘Trapper’ Marah followed. The experienced Marah was airborne for quite a while in his efforts to convince Keith Peppard of the transgression. When he eventually returned to earth and then to his feet, Trevor Conyard was on hand to do the needful and Ashford led.
As stated at the beginning of this report, county finals need players to stand up and be counted and Conyard’s next score epitomised his input and effort on the day.
He gathered an unhelpful ball from Sean Duffy, rounded Kevin Doyle and sprinted towards goal