Devlin goal brace downs Dromore

ACL DIVISION ONE

Dromore 0-9  Ardboe 2-14

A GOAL in each half from Cormac Devlin underscored Ardboe’s dominant victory at sunny Gardrum Park on Friday evening over a wasteful Dromore side.

St Dympna’s wide count was well north of the dozen mark at the end of the 60 minutes as they struggled throughout to find their radar in the swirling breeze.

The Rossas shooting left a bit to be desired too at times but overall they were way the more clinical and coherent of the two sides as they went on to register an eleven point triumph.

The Devlins – Cormac, Conan and Oisin – helped to spearhead the visitors’ challenge, while Oran Mulgrew and Shay McGuigan put in workmanlike shifts around centre field.

Their Dromore counterparts Ciaran McCoy and Sean McNabb also toiled manfully across the hour, and Niall Sludden and Ryan McCusker sought to galvanise their colleagues with some penetrating bursts up the flanks, but a series of morale sapping wides stymied their hopes. Cormac Devlin split the posts from an acute angle to give Ardboe an early lead, before Padraig Dillon replied with a free at the other end.

And before the quarter hour had elapsed he had tagged on two further frees, with McCoy also registering with an assured strike after good work from Sludden.

Sandwiched in between these Dromore scores, Darragh Devlin slipped over an effort for the Rossas and on the 16 minute mark Jamie Concannon let fly with a spectacular two pointer to leave it 0-4 apiece.

The sides remained deadlocked when Dillon and Shay McGuigan traded frees, though Dromore’s errant finishing was already becoming a major factor in the contest.

Conor Colton showed how it should be done with a quality conversion, after a fine run from McCusker opened up the opportunity, but Cormac Devlin responded with an equaliser, selling an audacious dummy before applying the finish.

In the 28th minute Devlin was then afforded the opportunity to open some significant daylight between the teams, and he duly delivered, slotting a penalty low past Dromore keeper Mark McGale after a foul on Caolan Mallaghan by Niall Sludden. (Half-time Dromore 0-6 Ardboe 1-6)

Despite a smart swivel and conversion from Dillon on the restart, it was Ardboe who began to turn the screw. David Mulgrew, Oisin Devlin and Oran Mulgrew each put the cap on some enterprising and purposeful approach work with quality strikes over the bar to leave the away side very much in the box-seat.

Dromore’s play lacked much crispness and fluidity and heading into the last ten minutes they had fallen 1-10 to 0-7 in arrears, the dynamic Cormac Devlin with another top notch score for Ardboe.

The hard-working McCusker briefly raised Dromore’s morale with a powerful surge into space and fine strike over the top but any hopes of a comeback evaporated in the 53rd minute. The visitors press helped to force a turnover and Oran Mulgrew darted towards goal before squaring for Devlin to neatly tuck away into the corner of the net.

And a two point free by Shay McGuigan, allied to a couple of conventional frees by the midfielder, moved Ardboe completely out of sight by the final whistle.

Scorers

Dromore: Padraig Dillon (0-6,4f), Ryan McCusker, Ciaran McCoy, Conor Colton (0-1 each)

Ardboe: Cormac Devlin (2-3), Shay McGuigan (0-5,1tpf,3f), Jamie Concannon (0-2,tp), Oisin Devlin, Oran Mulgrew, Darragh Devlin, David Mulgrew (0-1 each)

Teams

Dromore: Mark McGale, Aidan Colton, Tomas McCarron, Conor O’Hara, Ryan McCusker, Ronan McNabb snr, Niall Sludden, Ciaran McCoy, Sean McNabb, Conor Colton, John MacRory, Caolan Slevin, Padraig Dillon, Oran Sludden, Oisin Teague. Subs used: Declan McNulty for C Colton (41mins), Brian Gallagher for O Teague (41), Pearse McNabb for J MacRory (51)

Ardboe: Conall Quinn, Jeimi Muldoon, Manus Teague, Conor Devlin, Conall Morgan, Oisin Devlin, Shea Quinn, Shay McGuigan, Oran Mulgrew, Jamie Concannon, Cormac Devlin, Conan Devlin, Darragh Devlin, David Mulgrew, Caolan Mallaghan. Subs used: Jack Martin for C Morgan (46mins), Davin McKeown for D Mulgrew (53)

Referee: Jerome McElroy (Aghaloo)