Home comforts continue for Aodh Ruadh
Senior Football Division 3
26 April 2014
Aodh Ruadh 0-18
Urris 1-9
Father Tierney Park
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Aodh Ruadh overcame an industrious Urris side on Saturday evening. A strong finish to the game was required as they trailed their opponents at half time despite playing with the wind and dominating possession. The final twenty minutes saw them outscore Urris 9-2 and this paved the way to their victory. Although a missed Urris penalty in this period would also have a major role to play in the outcome.
The home side made one change from their previous outing, Johnny Gallagher making his first start of the year came in at corner back and Damian Cleary moving to half forward, replacing the injured Anthony Boyle. Playing into The Rock goals and with the wind Aodh Ruadh made a positive start.
The McGurrin brothers were to the fore. David kicked the opening score with a well taken left foot effort before Ronan kicked two good points on the run. Not to be out done by his midfield partner Donagh McIntyre popped over a point. David McGurrin added another from a free and the home side were cruising.
Then 15 minutes in disaster struck. Following a hopeful long ball Michael Ward and Peter Boyle got their wires crossed. Neither of them went for the ball, perhaps hampered by the low setting sun in Fr. Tierney and Urris corner forward Niall McLaughlin stole in between them to punch into an empty net. Another Donagh McIntyre point looked to steady the ship but this would be their last score for 12 minutes as Urris enjoyed their best spell of the game.
Mark McLaughlin got a point back. Then followed a catalogue of misses which could have changed the outcome of this game. Michael Grant missed an easy point, Mark McLaughlin missed a guilt edge goal chance and Patrick Doherty put another point chance wide. However he made up for that miss with a great pass to find Niall McLaughlin. Through on goal he took his shot early but Peter Boyle pulled off a wonderful save to knock it over for a point.
Aodh Ruadh were over complicating things at this stage. They were taking too much out of the ball, too many bad passes and too many wrong options. Grant atoned for his earlier miss with a well taken point. Ryan Granaghan had the home sides only chance during this spell but his long range effort went wide. That miss was punished by a monster effort from Eddie Kelly on the '45. That had Urris two up and it could have been a lot more.
After some good work in defence Jamie McDonald found Granaghan with a pass. Granaghan was haulled down and David McGurrin made no mistake with the free for a much needed point. That was the final act of the first half and left Aodh Ruadh with a lot of work to do in the second, on a score of 0-7, 1-5.
Aodh Ruadh started the second half in determent fashion. A good move involving David Dolan and David McGurrin saw Damian Cleary with time and space to kick a point. From the resulting kickout Cleary fielded, returned the favour to McGurrin and it was all square. Michael Grant enjoying a lot of success from wing back popped up for his second point of the game. Dean Kelly added a free and Urris were back in the lead but it was the last time they would do so.
A good spell for the home side saw points from Cleary, two frees from David McGurrin and a great team move saw David Dolan put Aodh Ruadh three up. Then came the game changer. Eddie Kelly was bearing down on goal and was fouled by Ciron Whrioskey. Although it looked outside the '13 the referee awarded the penalty. With Peter Boyle diving to his right Dean Kelly saw his effort crash off the butt of the left post.
Aodh Ruadh gathered possession and following good work by Mickey Dolan and a cool head under pressure from Kerry Ryan to find David McGurrin to notch his 7th point of the game. Peter Boyle hit a 40 yard free and Ronan McGurrin hit his third to compel the penalty miss even more.
Eddie Kelly kicked two frees on 53 and 55 minutes to bring it back to a four point game but they were their last scores of the game. David McGurrin saw a free hit the post and the rebounded could have ended up in the back of the net, but Urris cleared. However the Ballyshannon men were not finished. Following a great run from Jamie McDonald, who was dragged down when through on goal, McGurrin added another free. Fittingly the last act of the game fell to McGurrin who once again clipped over a point for number nine.
A good win at home again for Aodh Ruadh. But they wont be happy with their last 15 of the opening half against an Urris team who had three players that already played in the reserve fixture. For Urris the Kelly brothers tried hard around the middle and Michael Grant was a constant threat down the right hand side.
For Aodh Ruadh Johnny Gallagher and Eammon McGrath were solid in defence. Ronan McGurrin and Kerry Ryan were excellent around the middle. While once again David McGurrin was in good form with the boot. This win leaves them in good shape going into a crucial bank holiday weekend of double fixtures. Saturday evening sees them travel to Killygordon to take on Red Hughs and then on Monday afternoon they host Naomh Colmcille.
| Vital Statistics |
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| Teams |
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Aodh Ruadh Peter Boyle (0-1f); Johnny Gallagher, Ciron Whoriskey, Michael Ward; Conor Patton, Eammon McGrath, Michael Dolan; Donagh McIntyre (0-2), Ronan McGurrin (0-3); Damien Cleary (0-2), David Dolan (0-1), Ronan Drummond; Ryan Granaghan, David McGurrin (0-9, 5f), Jamie McDonald. Substitutes: Kerry Ryan for McIntyre: 22 mins, Diarmaid McInerney for Granaghan: 32 mins, Kieran Keown for Ward: 41 mins, Ronan Matthews for Drummond: 55 mins, James O'Donnell, Daniel Kelly. |
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Burt J Noone; D Harkin, D Devlin, S McDaid; M Grant (0-2), D Kelly, J Doherty; D Kelly (0-1f), E Kelly (0-4, 3f); P Doherty, B Doherty, A Friel; N McLoughlin (1-1), P Devlin, M McLoughlin (0-1). Substitutes: M Doherty for P Devlin: 8 mins, R Doherty for P Doherty: 53 mins. |
| Referee: Tony Gallagher (Red Hugh's) |
Last modified: Thursday, 28 May 2020 at 5:31pm