Senior Football League: Dromara
1-11 Vs Aghaderg 1-11
Aghaderg continued their league
programme with an away match to
Dromara last Friday night. The home
side knew that defeat would probably
rule them out of promotion this
year having already lost to Aghaderg
in Ballyvarley in round one. Therefore
Aghaderg anticipated a strong challenge
and that is what they got.
The match was played in ideal conditions.
Aghaderg got off to a whirlwind
start this week and they were 1
– 4 up before Dromara got
into their stride. A goal from Rory
Simpson after two minutes got Aghaderg
off to the perfect start. This was
followed by a pointed free from
the trusty left boot of Rory Simpson.
Conor Lavery then chipped in with
two points. The first of these came
from a fine solo run which culminated
in Conor fisting the ball over the
bar from 13 metres out. He then
received a poor clearance from the
home defence and turned and shot
over the bar from 20 metres.
After this initial onslaught Dromara
gathered some momentum and replied
with the next four points to reduce
the Aghaderg lead to a goal. A Rory
Simpson free stemmed the flow temporarily
before Dromara resumed their scoring
dominance rounding off the first
half with the last three points.
Half time Dromara 0 – 7 Aghaderg
1 – 4
The Aghaderg management emphasised
the need to get back on tracks with
an initial push right from the second
half whistle. Eugene Devlin responded
to their demands when he scored
a fine point from play after 2 minutes,
which was followed quickly by another
Rory Simpson point. This opened
a two-point gap but Dromara responded
with the next two points again levelling
the scores.
Then it was Aghaderg’s turn
to reward their fans with points
from Eugene Devlin, Kelin Doyle
and Rory Simpson. However Dromara
responded themselves with the next
three scores. Unfortunately for
Aghaderg one of these was a goal.
This put Dromara two points into
the lead and at this stage the home
fans were sensing victory. Instead
of wilting as has happened in some
matches the Aghaderg players regrouped
for one last effort and two points
through Eugene Devlin and Rory Simpson
levelled the match. Both teams had
their chances to win the game in
the last minutes but neither side
could get the all-important score.
The match ended with the scores
tied at 1 – 11 each which
in all fairness was probably the
right result on the night. Neither
team deserved to lose the match.
Rory Simpson was the chief marksman
with a final tally of 1- 5. He was
ably supported by Eugene Devlin
0 – 3,Conor Lavery 0 –
3 and Kelin Doyle 0 – 1.
Much credit for this entertaining
game must go to the referee. The
referee is usually a much-maligned
part of most matches but this referee
stood firm and controlled the game
expertly. He refereed the game fairly
and he allowed to game to flow,
which was appreciated by all involved.
The next match will be on Friday
night when Aghaderg host Ballykinlar
in Ballyvarley at 7.30pm. Why not
come out and enjoy the match and
see the talents of the team for
yourself?
