Five star showing by Aghyaran against Rock

Rock 1-11   Aghyaran 5-11

AGHYARAN leap frogged the Rock into third position in the Division Two table after a dominant twelve point victory on a calm Wednesday night at St Patrick’s.

The away side established their dominance early on taking the lead after just 40 seconds through Eoghan McHugh. By the 11th minute St Davogs had established a six point advantage, 1-4-0-1 and never looked back.

Despite the Rock struggling they did stay within touching distance trailing by four points heading into the final twenty minutes but St Davogs would outscore their opponents 4-4 to 1-5 in the final third of the match to earn a key victory in their push for promotion.

Aghyaran made a strong start to the contest, kicking three points in the first three minutes, Eoin McHugh and Patrick McNulty from play, and Ronan McHugh scoring a close range free.

The home side would respond with an outside of the boot long range point from midfielder Shea Daly. However moments later Aghyaran had the first of their five goals. The impressive Patrick McNulty showed great strength to power past a number of defenders and finished to the top corner of the net.

St Patrick’s got their second point through Peter Loughran after a good run by Conor McGarrity, but the Rock were showing indiscipline at the other end, giving away another free which was converted brilliantly from 45 metres by Ronan McHugh.

Eoghan McHugh then kicked his second point of the evening. The Rock were struggling to gain any momentum in the contest. Shea Daly scored his second long range point from 45 metres, his exquisite long range kicking accounting for 50% of the home side’s first half scores.

The score of the contest came in the 26th minute. Despite being surrounded by a number of defenders Ronan McHugh somehow found space to kick an audacious score from the sideline. The Rock would get the last point of the half, corner back Diarmaid Carroll kicking a 60 metre foot pass to Padraig Mullan who pointed from an acute angle to leave the score line, 1-6 to 0-4 at the break in the visitors favour.

It was the home side who made the stronger start to the second half, a good run by captain Thomas Mackle resulted in a Conor McGarrity point. Aghyaran would counter this with a score of their own moments later, Ronan McHugh getting his third point from a free.

The Rock would have an instant response as defender Aidan Girvan pointed to leave four between the teams. St Patricks continued to miss a number of chances and hit double figures for wides. They were made to pay for their inefficiency as Aghyaran got their second goal in the 40th minute. Patrick McNulty showed great instinct as he caught the ball after a fantastic save by St Patrick’s keeper Shane Murphy and finished to the net.

By this stage Aghyaran were commanding both sets of kick outs, Eoin Byrne, Kevin Penrose, Thomas Dolan, Brendan Gallen and Caolan McGinty were all playing superbly, winning both short and long kickouts. Their side almost had another goal moments later, with full back Eoin Byrne winning the ball in his own half, finding Ronan McHugh whose powerful shot was saved by keeper Shane Murphy.

Eoin Byrne was the first to react to point the rebound. Aghyaran were in the ascendency and had yet another score, the electric Kevin Penrose won another ball in the midfield of the pitch, offloading it to Patrick McNulty who pointed.

The Rock would show some heart, scoring 1-1 in a matter of minutes, Aidan McGarrity pointing from a free and then scoring a goal from the penalty spot (Conor Ward winning the decision) to leave five  between the sides heading into the final quarter.

Every time the Rock seemed to wrestle back momentum in the match St Davogs would respond on the scoreboard, kicking 1-1 of their own. Goalkeeper Niall Hilley found Ronan McHugh who made a great run, and while the goal looked on but he took his point. He wouldn’t have to wait long for his goal though as a minute later he would palm the ball into the net.

St Patricks would kick three points on the spin, Conor Ward, Shea Daly and Cormac O’Neill all scoring. Despite those scores Aghyaran showed great composure and scored two more goals in the final few minutes. Corner back Cormac McHugh’s shot hit the post before falling to Eoghan McHugh who slotted the ball to the net.

Both sides would then trade points before Ronan McHugh got his second goal and his side’s fifth goal just before the final whistle.

The Scorers

Rock

Aidan McGarrity (1-2, 1f), Shea Daly (0-3), Peter Loughran (0-1), Padraig Mullan (0-1), Conor McGarrity (0-1), Aidan Girvan (0-1), Conor Ward (0-1), Cormac O’Neill (0-1).

Aghyaran

Ronan McHugh (2-6, 4f), Patrick McNulty (2-2), Eoghan McHugh (1-2), Eoin Byrne (0-1).