Ashford closing in
Rovers have one hand on trophy after beating Newtown
NEWTOWN UNITED ASHFORD ROVERS 3 5
IT is so close that they can taste it but Ashford Rovers only have one hand and four fingers on the Andy McEvoy Premier title so far.
The Ballinalea Park men proved exactly why they are the champions-elect as they overcame an early two-goal deficit – blasting in five unanswered goals – before eventually prevailing 3-5 winners.
Realistically, nothing but victory would suffice for Newtown United but the wounded Magpies – who lost three men to injury on Sunday – let their early lead slip and their punishment was to watch the joyous scenes on the visiting sideline unfold.
With 12 minutes on the clock, Neilly Martin provided the perfect platform for the hosts as he headed them into the lead and it looked like we had a league showdown on our hands as Matthew Kennedy steered home a second on 21 minutes.
Kennedy would limp off moments later though, as would Evan Moran, and they lost Dean Odlum late on as their luck well and truly deserted them.
Shane Dunne and man of the match Cian O’Hannain had Rovers level by the interval and there was no stopping them then.
They seized on their momentum and moved to within inches of the league title thanks to second half strikes from O’Hannain (again), Danny Byrne and Anto Byrne.
The rain threatened to come along a few times at the Matt Kelly but while the weather couldn’t make up its mind, United knew what was in theirs: spark this title race back to life.
Dillon Carthy could have opened the scoring after just two minutes as he wriggled free on the left flank but with the ball begging to be curled in at the far post, Carthy seemed to scuff his strike and Cathal Moody scooped it up.
Carthy almost turned provider for Evan Moran with a corner but – unlike in the Wicklow Cup semi-final – Moran couldn’t find the net as he side-footed it wide.
A rare mistake from Matthew Kennedy saw him allow his pocket to be picked by O’Hannain.
He fed Danny Byrne who got a shot away from a tight angle but Lee Fitzpatrick had covered the angles and blocked it.
The opener arrived on 12 minutes from a free midway inside Ashford’s half. Sean Heffernan’s delivery was incredibly good and Neilly Martin did it justice by flicking it home.
Rovers almost levelled instantly when Heffernan was unable to cut out Shane Dunne’s throughball but O’Hannain’s finish was smartly turned around the post by Fitzpatrick.
Newtown’s delight was doubled by the 21st minute as Dessie Waters bombed down the right flank and avoided the offside flag.
His low cross missed two Newtown attackers but not Kennedy, whose late arrival was timed perfectly to dispatch it to the bottom corner from 15 yards.
With 10 minutes left in the first half, that lead was halved.
Robbie Eyre’s free kick cannoned off the wall and flew out to Dean Odlum and Karl Earls in the centre circle.
Earls got his boot to it and it flew back over the Newtown defence. Two or three Rovers men – clearly offside – jogged back innocently but Shane Dunne had waited in the shadows and burst onto it and rifled it home.
A lovely flick from Ryan Cahill released Dean Odlum down the left flank but, having seen his initial shot blocked by Moody, he fired his follow-up into the side netting.
Newtown right-back Martin Williams and Shane Dunne got a bit heated in the 42nd minute and it was from the resulting free kick that the visitors levelled.
Fitzpatrick ensured he had three men in his wall but it mattered little to O’Hannain as he spun it over them and it looped over Fitzpatrick into the top corner from the left-hand side.
Finn Brooks could have given Rovers the lead on the stroke of half-time as he charged onto O’Hannain’s pass but he was expertly snuffed out by a covering defender.
The half-time break did little to deflate Ashford’s momentum and they completed the turnaround by the 48th minute when Brooks’ searching pass down the right found Danny Byrne and O’Hannain beat Fitzpatrick to his low cross to squirm it over the line.
Danny Byrne provided another assist for Rovers’ fourth. He chipped it through for Anto Byrne who may claim his first touch was genius but it looked more like a favourable bounce off his unsuspecting head that set it up nicely for him to bend it to Fitzpatrick’s left.
By the hour mark, the title race was all but ran.
The ball was played forward to O’Hannain but as he tried to control it, he was needlessly hauled down. Jason Redmond immediately blew for a free kick but on closer inspection, he awarded the spot kick. Danny Byrne made no mistake for number 29 of the campaign.
Conor Odlum pulled one back with nine minutes to go but Newtown’s pulse ran flat long before that and Rovers celebrated a monumental victory.