Westerns heading in right direction
ANGLO PRINETRS JFC GROUP D
A Tommy Durnin inspired Westerns side proved too hot to handle for a brave Wolfe Tones side who competed well without ever really threatening to spring an upset in this Anglo Printers Junior Football Championship clash.
On a perfect evening in Tallanstown Tommy Durnin helped himself to 1-7 as the men from Reaghstown eased past their Drogheda rivals. The Westerns began the game as clear favourites who now ply their football in division 5 but were on the back foot early on as the Tones looked up for the battle early on.
Jordan Reilly opened the scoring for the Tones with an excellent score from way out on the lefthand side of the pitch to get his side up and running. A Tommy Durnin free levelled up the scores before Barry Reilly capitalised on some good work from the impressive Marc Lugoye to edge the Tones clear again.
The Drogheda side dominated the next ten minutes of the game but crucially they were very wasteful in front of goal kicking four wides in that period to let the Westerns off the hook. Those misses were punished on the quarter hour mark when Tommy Durnin burst through midfield before playing a one-two with his brother Anthony before calmly slotting the ball into the corner of the net for the game’s opening goal.
Both sides traded points in what was quite a competitive tussle but the Tones were dealt a second hammer blow five minutes before the break when a David Lennon error was pounced upon by Andrew Kerr and put into the back of the net for the Westerns second goal.
Shortly afterwards Durnin knocked over his second free of the half before Jordan Duffy reduced the deficit for the Tones with a long range free right at the end of the half. That score meant the Westerns went in 2-4 to 0-4 ahead at the break.
Both sides traded points early in the second half before Tommy Durnin began to flex his muscles in midfield scoring three points in quick succession to open up a nine-point gap between the sides.
Durnin then scored his only point of the game from open play after the ball was worked from the left to really put the nail in the Tones coffin.
The Westerns made a host of substitutions late on and one of those changes, Ciaran Campbell, took advantage of some tired Wolfe Tones defenders to sprint clear before finding the bottom of the net to put the seal on a wellearned opening championship victory for Cathal O’Hanlon’s side. WESTERNS: Peter Shields, Colin Martin, James Ward, PJ Marron, Sean McGuinness, Stephen Boylan, Michael Martin, Thomas Durnin (1-7 6fs), Terence Sweeney (0-1), Ciaran Scriven, Trevor Baylon (0-1), John Murray, Johnny Lynch, Anthony Durnin, Andrew Kerr (1-1) Subs: Ciaran Campbell (1-1) for Terence Sweeney, Andy Kerr for Ciaran Scriven, Shane Matthews for Michael Martin, Patrick Kerley for Johnny Lynch, Gerry Curtis for Trevor Baylon, Niall Moynagh (0-1) for John Murray.
WOLFE TONES: Chris Eustace, Adam Gartland, Paddy Fanning, David Lennon, Sam Kelly, Eoghan O’Shea (0-1), Alan Fanning, Marc Lugoye, Mark Healy, Niall Smith (0-1), Darren Weldon, Jamie McCormack, Gideon Lugoye (0-2), Barry Reilly (0-2), Jordan Duffy (0-3) Subs: Graham Fanning for David Lennon, Kevin Collier for Adam Gartland, Kieran Smith for Darren Weldon, Andy Faulkner for Jamie McCormack.