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Aodh Ruadh see off Burt challenge
23.06.11
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Burt...0-6 Aodh Ruadh...1-9 THE last time Ballyshannon manager Val Murray graced Hibernian Park was as a player back in the summer of 1998. Then, his injury-time goal was the difference between Burt and Aodh Ruadh in the first round of that year’s senior football championship. Thirteen years on, six of those who took part in that game were still wearing the colours during Saturday evening’s rain-sodden division three encounter at the same venue: Burt’s Ciaran Dowds and Niall Campbell and Ballyshannon’s Kerry Ryan, Niall McCready, Brian Roper and Michael Ward. This was the quintessential game of two halves – Burt utterly dominating the first while the visitors controlled the second. Burt went into the break two points up but considering they enjoyed up to 60% of possession in the first half, they really should have been further ahead than their slender 0-5 to 0-3 lead. Joe Boyle (3), Dara Grant (1) and Niall Campbell (1) were on the mark for the Burt men while Michael Ward, David Dolan and Kerry Ryan accounted for the visitor’s meagre first-half pickings. A difficult cross-field breeze made shooting difficult but it was the visitors who were relieved to greet the half-time whistle. Burt had lorded proceedings in the middle third of the pitch, winning the air battles and picking up the vast majority of spilled ball. Burt’s final three points of the half came in the 27th, 30th and 31st minute. The second half was a different story entirely. Burt left all their first-half tenacity behind in the dressing room allowing Aodh Ruadh draw level within two minutes of the restart – Brian Roper and Dolan both scoring from play. |
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By the 36th minute they had
gone two points ahead courtesy of a double strike by
Michael Ward and Burt were in danger of being
steam-rolled. However, with the rain spilling down, the game went 19 minutes without a score – Aodh Ruadh unable to close out proceedings and Burt unable to trouble Peter Boyle’s posts. The stalemate was ended on 55 minutes when Marty Donaghey went the direct route to pull Burt back to within a point. Kerry Ryan, foraging for the visitors in the Burt half, won a soft free with three minutes left to re-establish Aodh Ruadh’s two-point cushion and it was now going to take a goal to win the game. That goal duly arrived in the 30th minute but – from a Burt perspective – at the wrong end. |
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A goalmouth scramble saw
Stephen Gillespie’s attempted clearance ricochet off one
of his defenders and into the net – David Dolan lashing
it home to make sure. The impressive Michael Ward had
time to raise the white flag one last time to complete
Aodh Ruadh’s impressive 1-6 second-half tally. Although Burt were short a number of regulars, they will be disappointed with that solitary point in the second half – a feeble return for 30 minutes of football. Job done and having taken points from the three Inishowen clubs played to date, the Ballyshannon men hit the road south with an immediate return to Division Two looking more certain by the week. Burt: Stephen Gillespie; Johnny Downey, Paul O’Brien, Kevin Glen; Carl Wilson, Rory Grant, Darren McLaughlin; Ciaran Dowds, Enda McDermott; Benny Harrigan, Eamon Reddin, Marty Donaghey (0-1); Darragh Grant (0-1), Joe Boyle (0-3), Niall Campbell (0-1). Aodh Ruadh: Peter Boyle; Niall McCready, Kiron Whoriskey, Philip O’Reilly; Kieran Keown, Conor Patton, Ronan McGurn; Conor Gurn, Kerry Ryan (0-1); David Dolan (1-2), Michael Ward (0-4), PJ McGee (0-1); Brian Roper (0-1). Turlough McIntyre, Anthony Boyle. For full coverage of all your weekend sport, read the Inishowen Independent. |
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