Donaghmore / Ashbourne  -v-  Ballivor

7th April 2023 – 6.30 pm

Football A League – Division 2A

Donaghmore won the throw up and the ball immediately went to Kevin Fenton who kicked under pressure and put the ball wide. Shortly afterwards Sean Tyrrell scored the first point of the night. Josh Lancaster showed great movement on the ball, twisting and turning players. He took a shot which the umpire signalled for a point but he was over ruled by the referee and it was deemed wide.

Following a Ballivor point Donaghmore kept possession until Kevin Fenton saw an opportunity. His shot was blocked and came back out to James O’Sullivan. James was fouled and Josh Lancaster scored from the resulting free. It was great to see Killian Hegarty back from injury and he scored a lovely point that could have been going wide but the strong breeze brought it back between the posts.

Colin Lynch came on for the injured Alan Murtagh

Donaghmore had most of the possession and had their first chance of a goal. Matt Crumlish’s shot on goal was deflected wide for a 45. David Carr took a quick free to Matt Crumlish and then on to Ethan Tormey who kicked a point with the outside of his boot. The pressure was building on Ballivor and it resulted in two fouls. Both frees were taken and put over the bar by Kevin Fenton.

Alex Purcell on for the injured Killian Hogan

Kevin Fenton caught a long ball in and put the ball over the bar. He followed this up with a goal when he received the ball in front of goal after a great run by Ethan Tormey. Ballivor took the ball down the pitch into the Donaghmore half but they got no joy from the Moors backs. They were solid. Josh Lancaster scored two more points from play after showing some silky movements.

Before the half ended Chris Tormey was involved in a collision with a Ballivor player. He was very unlucky when it was deemed a foul by the referee. Ballivor couldn’t take advantage of the free and put the ball wide.

Half time:​​Donaghmore Ashbourne 1-9, Ballivor 0-1

David Carr got enough of a hand on the ball to win the throw in. Donaghmore were again in control of the game and scored two quick points by Killian Hegarty and Sean Tyrrell. Ballivor conceded a number of frees but Donaghmore couldn’t capitalise on it.

Matthew Doran on for Kevin Fenton

Josh Lancaster was advancing towards the Ballivor goal and was fouled. The referee played advantage and Josh took a shot the bounced back off the crossbar. The referee called it back for a free and the resulting free bounced back off the crossbar for a second time. A long ball was caught by David Donnelly and he passed immediately to James O’Sullivan who put the ball straight over the bar.

Eoin Ryan on for Josh Lancaster

Ballivor found themselves in a one on one situation on two occasions over the next 5 monutes. Good pressure was shown by Thomas Cooney to force a wide. On the second occasion Matt Crumlish threw his whole body in front of a Ballivor shot to deny them a goal. The ball went back down the field and Matthew Doran put the ball over the bar from a free kick. Donaghmore played the possession game for the remainder of the game, moving the ball back and forward, from one side to the other. Ethan Tormey scored the last point of the match.

Final score:​​Donaghmore Ashbourne 1-15, Ballivor0-1

Team:​Alex Ward, Chris Twomey, Jack McCrney, Thomas Cooney, Matt Crumlish, Alan Murtagh, Ethan Tormey, David Carr, Killian Hogan, James O’Sullivan, Killian Hegarty, Cian Deegan, Sean Tyrrell, Kevin Fenton, Josh Lancaster

Subs:​Matthew Doran, David Donnelly, Alex Purcell, Eoin Ryan, Colin Lynch

Report by Jonathan Carr

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