’STONES SEAL THE DEAL
United edge out Ashford Rovers to pick up three points
GREYSTONES UNITED ASHFORD ROVERS 2 1
GREYSTONES hosted league rivals Ashford Rovers B in the Pat O’Toole 1B League last Sunday afternoon.
Greystones were sitting in mid-table before the game and would have to find a way past a defensive Ashford side if they wanted to try climb the table and challenge for the title.
Ashford had the opportunity to open the scoring and grab the opening goal in the 11th minute when Gavin McDevitt delivered a well-taken corner,
Shane Farrell rose highest to nod the ball in the direction of the goal but his header was too tame and made for an easy save for Greystones keeper Bartoz Steaka.
Greystones opened the scoring on the half hour mark after some great team play and quick footwork from Jason Healy, Anthony Fermoyle and Kevin Bell.
Greystones won back possession of the ball on the edge of their own box and went on the counter-attack.
Jason Healy broke off on a darting run finding Kevin Bell on the edge on the left wing who squared the ball across the penalty area to Anthony Fermoyle who stroked the ball into the corner of the net to give his side the lead.
A great counter-attack from the home side to put themselves in front.
Gavin McDevitt was causing trouble for the Greystones defence on the right wing.
The winger kept on getting in good positions but his team mates failed to make the final pass to find him in goal scoring opportunities.
As the second half began Greystones continued to push forward, with their second goal coming not long after the restart. This time it was Anthony Fermoyle who turned provider, the striker went on a great run down the right wing beating two Ashford defenders before squaring the ball across goal to Kevin Bell who couldn’t miss.
Things went from bad to worse for the away side as defender Lee Nichols was shown a red card for a last man lunging tackle on goal scorer Kevin Bell.
Bell went past Nichols and looked like he was going to go all the way but the defender tried to put in a tackle to prevent going even further behind but he clipped the heels of Bell and went tumbling.
As the tackle was just outside the box Greystones were awarded a free-kick in a dangerous position.
The free-kick was taken by Bell and as his shot hit off the bar the ball fell to Anthony Fermoyle who tapped into an empty net but the referee deemed Fermoyle to be in offside position and raised his arm for offside, much to the frustration of Fermoyle.
Ashford did manage to grab a goal back late on after some great footwork from Gavin McDevitt who set up substitute Colm Doyle but unfortunately for the travelling side Greystones defence stood firm for the remainder of the game even though Ashford caused them some real trouble in the last ten minutes with Greystones having to make some off the line clearances on a number of different occasions but it was Greystones who gained a full three points from the game.
Greystones United: 1. Bartoz Steaka, 2. Ben Traynor, 3. Daragh Kelly, 4. Sean Taylor, 5. Josh Davenport, 6. Olly James,
7. Robert Evans, 8. Jason Healy,
9. Anthony Fermoyle, 10. Michael Devitt, 11. Kevin Bell. Subs: Kevin Bell for Robert Evans (45min), David Molloy for Jason Healy (61min).
Ashford Rovers B: 1. Tommy Sullivan, 2. Naoise Tracey, 3. Lee Nichols, 4. Kane O’ Shea,
5. Leigh Farrell, 6. Sean Beals,
7. Paul Conyard, 8. Paul Duffy,
9. Leon Murphy, 10. Shane Farrell, 11. Gavin McDevitt. Subs: Chris Ffrench for Leon Murphy (45min), Connor Brennan for Paul Duffy (62min), Colm Doyle for Shane (62min), Joe Haskins for Naoise Tracey (75min).
Referee: Dominic Lauchesse.