First defeat of the season for reserves
Senior Reserve Football Division 3
24 May 2014
Naomh Bríd 3-11
Aodh Ruadh 4-4
Páirc Naomh Bríd
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Aodh Ruadh reserves sustained their first defeat of the season with a 3-11 to 4-4 loss in Páirc Naomh Bríd. The Ballintra Laghey men were clearly up for this one and set about their work with gusto in the first half, and had a goal and a point on the board within minutes, punishing a very flat start by Aodh Ruadh. Dermot Slevin got the first point for the visitors following a quick free kick from Michael 'Sticky' Ward. Naomh Bríd were breaking through the Aodh Ruadh defence with alarming ease, adding a number of points without reply. The Aodh Ruadh forwards were starved of any kind of ball for the majority of the half, but when Sticky Ward managed to get on the end of a long ball by the end line, he beat two men before hammering a shot low into the goal which was hit with too much power for the goalie to keep out, to drag the visitors back into the game. However, on the stroke of half time the homeside hit a real body blow, scoring another goal to lead at the break 2-6 to 1-3.
The second half was a hot-tempered affair, which suited the homesters game. Aodh Ruadh could rightly feel aggrieved about the penalty awarded against them early on, Cookie O'Halloran doing no more than contesting the ball with two Naomh Bríd attackers in a fair and conventional fashion. There was no mistake from the spot kick, with the lead extended to 3-8 to 1-3. Ballyshannon did well to get back into the match, particularly after Darren Gettins received a harsh black card from a referee who was certainly not doing the lads any favours. The black card came after a previous yellow, leaving the visitors to play out the remainder of the game with 14 men. Anthony 'Waddle' Coughlan was brought back to midfield to try to win some badly needed possession. Within minutes he fielded a high ball before pumping it in long to the forward line. Sticky Ward duly collected and was charging in on goal before being taken down for a penalty, which was neatly tucked away by Dermot Slevin. Sticky then recorded another goal, before setting up the visitors fourth goal after his initial shot was saved by the keeper only for the rebound to be palmed in by substitute Mickey McNeely.
To have closed to within four points of Naomh Bríd by the finish, despite what was a below par performance from the Ernesiders was good going in itself. There weren't too many stand out performances on this occasion, but the work of Sticky Ward gave the visitors a lifeline, creating bother for Ballintra any time he got on the ball. Cookie O'Halloran got on a lot of ball in the second half and dealt well with a lot of physical treatment.
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Aodh Ruadh Daniel Kelly; Ciaran Slevin, Ryan Patton, David McLoone; Chris McCabe, Darren Gettins, Stephen Bradley; David Finnerty, Ryan Patton; James Kelly, Anthony Coughlin, Michael 'Sticky' Ward; J Dolan, Dermot Slevin, Chris Goan. Substitutes: Calum O'Halloran for Ryan Granaghan, Ruairi Drummond for J Dolan, Michael McNeely for Chris McCabe, Sylvester Maguire for Chris Goan. |
Last modified: Monday, 1 June 2020 at 1:11pm