Tinahely topple Avondale

TINAHELY AVONDALE 3-14 1-8

A fitter and faster Tinahely ran out convincing winners over Avondale in this Division 1A Football League play off game played in St. Kevin’s Park in Tinahely on Wednesday June 6.

The home side led by 0-6 to 0-4 at half-time but there was little indication at this stage that they would pull away in the manner which they did as the second half progressed.

Avondale were slow to settle into the game in the first period and Tinahely had gone four points up by the tenth minute with scores from the lively Willie Quaile, a Tony Darcy free and two points from Daniel Ging, Avondale had plenty of possession in these early stages but were unable to convert this into scores on the board.

Centre back David Baker moved forward in the eleventh minute to kick the visitor’s first point.

Baker came forward again five minutes later and punched over Avondale’s second point reducing the lead to just two points.

Following a mistake in the Avondale defence, Tony Darcy pushed the gap back up to three points again.

Jack Manley and Liam Kinsella added on two more points for the Rathdrum men to reduce the lead to the bare minimum coming up to half-time.

This was to prove to be the best spell in the game for Avon- dale and they also had a few misses in this period, notching up six wides in the half.

Just before the end of the half Alan Nolan added another Tinahely point to leave his side ahead by 0-6 to 0-4.

The second half turned into an entirely different game.

Superior Tinahely fitness levels began to show and the home side put Avondale under pressure running at their defence from deep.

A mistake in the Avondale last line of defence straight from the throw in resulted in a Tony Darcy point.

Avondale responded immediately with a point which was remarkable if only for its simplicity. Adam Benson caught a mark in midfield, kicked forward into the path of Paul Gahan who made ground and split the posts. Three kicks and over the bar!

Darcy pointed a free and when Brian Walsh got on the end of an Alan Nola ‘45’ to punch home a Tinahely goal, the game was already moving away from Avondale.

Two quick points from Darcy and Daniel Ging had Tinahely 1-10 to 0-5 ahead by ten minutes.

The hard working Conor Byrne, who covered a huge amount of ground for Avondale, had two points from frees for the visiting side but the last fifteen minutes belonged to Tinahely who were now playing in a very confidant manner.

Tony Darcy added 1-1, substitute Alan Dillon scored 1-1 and centre forward Jason Cushe had a further two points as Tinahely finished very strongly.

Adam Benson had a consolation goal for the Dales when his long range point effort deceived Brian Hickey in goal and slipped inside the post. Conor Byrne had the last Avondale point from a free just on the call of time.

Alan Costello has Tinahely flying at the moment and if they can carry this level of performance into the Intermediate championship in a consistent manner, they will go a long way.

It was good to see Conor McGraynor make a reappearance in the Avondale colours when he came on as a second half substitute.

Having just landed back the previous day from his sojourn in the States he made little impact on this occasion but that will undoubtedly change.

Final score: Tinahely 3-14, Avondale 1-8.

Scorers - Tinahely: Tony Darcy 1-6, Alan Dillon 1-1, Brian Walsh 1-0, Daniel Ging 0-3, Jason Cushe 0-2, Alan Nolan 0-1, Willie Quaile 0-1

Avondale: Conor Byrne 0-3, Adam Benson Byrne 1-0, David Baker 0-2, Jack Manley 0-1, Liam Kinsella 0-1, Paul Gahan 0-1

Tinahely: Brian Hickey; James Gilbert, Michael Byrne, Curtis Keating; Noel Mulhall, Conor Hatton, Kevin Mulhall; Brian Walsh, Stephan Dillon; James Hedderman, Jason Cushe, Alan Nolan; Tony Darcy, Willie Quaile, Daniel Ging; Subs: Alan Dillon, Niall Gorman, John Blake.

Avondale: Brian Burke; Simon Cullen, Shane O’Neill, Aeonghas O’Broin; Liam Kinsella, David Baker, Shane Beevor; Adam Benson Byrne, Paul Gahan; Sean McGraynor, Shane Byrne, Eugene Dunne; Cian O’Hannaigh, Jack Manley, Conor Byrne; Subs: Ryan Cahill, Conor McGraynor.

Referee: Pat Dunne. (Hollywood).