Avondale stroll to comfortable win

AVONDALE 2-13 ARKLOW ROCKS 0-07

A glorious sunny Saturday in Pearse’s Park Arklow saw Avondale run out comfortable winners over Arklow Rocks Parnell by a score of 2-13 to 0-7.

The visitors showed their intent early on with a classy point in the third minute from Paul Gahan after he showed some quick feet to turn the Rocks corner back before firing over the bar to register the first score of the game.

It looked to have gotten better again for Avondale just a minute later after Brian Butcher had the ball in the back of the Rocks net after good play on the right hand side from Liam Phelan, however the score was ruled out as a result of a square ball call from the referee.

The Rocks were proving to be their own worst enemies in the game as their inability to retain possession of the ball from their own puck outs, frees and sideline balls meant the defenders were placed under constant pressure from an unforgiving Avondale side.

Frustrations began to show for the home side as John Cushe picked up a yellow card in the ninth minute for an aggressive charge on the Avondale half back in an attempt to regain possession.

As the first half wore on Avondale continued to register points through Niall Heffernan, Eamon Kearns, Paul Gahan and Brian Butcher, putting themselves in firm control of the game with the Rocks continuing to struggle retaining possession of the ball the further they moved up the field.

If there was a bright spark for the home side during this spell it had to be the tireless work rate of James Dignam and Shane Mellon who tirelessly pressurised the Avondale players looking to try inspire a revival from their team.

Dignam in particular showed fierce determination in the 16th minute when, after losing his hurl in a tackle, chased back towards his goal to prevent Avondale scoring before regaining possession for his team amid a flurry of swinging opposition hurls.

Avondale continued to rack up the points establishing a seven-point lead before the Rocks found a way onto the scoreboard through a free from Tony Kinsella in the 24th minute.

Arklow Rock Parnells managed to score two more points before the end of the half through Shane

Mellon and Jason Redmond while Avondale protected their lead through a point from Brian Butcher, meaning the first half ended with Avondale holding a 0-8 to 0-4 advantage.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first with Avondale proving to be too much for the Rocks to handle.

Karl Phelan seemed to put the game beyond any doubt with a quick point and goal double within a minute of each other.

Phelan found himself in acres of space in behind the Rocks half back line before striking a low effort in the corner to only increase the visitors comfort in the game.

The constant pressure on the Rocks defenders was proving to be too much to handle in the intense heat as gaps began to open up all over the field for Avondale.

The Rocks did manage to register scores through John Cushe and Jason Redmond but the game was all but secured for Avondale through Shaun Byrne in the 42nd minute.

After a good save from the initial shot by Rocks keeper Olagh Redmond his attempted hand pass fell straight to Byrne who gladly fired home.

This score all but ended any hope of a Rocks comeback and the heat began to play an even bigger part in the game as the superior fitness levels of the Avondale side began to show even more.

The Rocks continued to show glimpses of promise with a near miss from Cian Doyle proving the closest the home side would come to narrowing the gap on the score line.

Avondale registered a further three points before the final whistle confirmed a result that had never really been in doubt.

This result will give Avondale a huge surge of momentum as they progress on in the Championship this season while the Rocks will need to revisit the drawing board to try and rectify this result in their next game.

AVONDALE: Raymond Nolan, Connor Sheehan, James Busher, Anthony O’Toole, James Doyle, Eugene Dunne, Keith Byrne, Daniel Owens, Eamon Kearns, Niall Heffernan , Liam Phelan, Karl Phelan, Shaun Byrne, Paul Gahan, Brian Butcher. Subs: Craig Byrne, Dean Gahan, Eugene Heffernan, Eoin Heffernan, Seamus O’Shaughnessy, Michael O’Toole, Johnny Tobin, Tom Finn, Eanna Owens, Roy Byrne.

ARKLOW ROCK PARNELLS: Olagh Redmond, Eamon Doyle, Martin Gilbert, James Dignam, Conor Doyle, .John Furlong, Cian Doyle, Shane Mellon, Colin O’Connor, Jason Redmond, Tony Kinsella, Kevin O’Reilly, Sean Somers, John Cushe, John Foxton. Subs: Paul Lacey, Philip Byrne, David Carroll . REFEREE: Chris Canavan.