Donaghmore/Ashbourne 1-10 St. Patrick's 0-3 Donaghmore/Ashbourne showed no sign of ill effect from their senior championship defeat two weeks ago with this highly impressive display against St. Patrick's at Stamullen. Donaghmore/Ashbourne have been hit hard with the injury bug this season and this was most likely the strongest side fielded yet. From the start of this game Donaghmore/Ashbourne produced the flair and cohesion which has evaded them for much of this season. St. Pat's opened the scoring with a point from a free on 3 minutes but this was to be the extent of their scoring for the next 40 minutes as the visitors took control. Eoin Reilly opened the Donaghmore/Ashbourne account with a point on 6 minutes followed by an Eoin Carroll point on 11 minutes. Scores soon followed from Tadhg Kelly and Sean Harmon as the visitors were moving the ball at pace. Donaghmore/Ashbourne were in control in defence and runs forward by Joe Finnegan and Tadhg Kelly kept St. Pat's possession curtailed. The improved strength in the Ashbourne performance was noticeable with great intelligence to their play. St. Pat's were finding it difficult to respond and this was further compounded when Eoin Carroll had the net dancing on 30 minutes. The ball was worked forward from defence to Carroll who found himself in a 2 on 1 situation with the advancing St. Pat's netminder. He coolly slotted over the goalkeeper's head to cap a solid first half display. This was a tough game with no quarter asked or given. Emotions spilled over just before the break as players from both sides were involved in an incident which resulted in 3 yellow cards being issued. The visitors began the second period as they left off at the break. Early points from Andrew Tormey (2) and Eoin Reilly opened an eight point gap. St. Pat's badly needed a goal to inject some momentum into their challenge but visitors' defence were not in a generous mood. Two pointed free kicks on 44 and 51 minutes was all the hosts could find in reply. On 54 minutes the ball found its way to Andrew Tormey who struck over his fourth point of the day and essentially squeeze any competitive element from the contest. Roaming corner forward Ciaran Ellis made a fine run through the centre on 56 minutes and finished with a well taken point to complete fine all round team display. Donaghmore/Ashbourne and Andy McEntee will be satisfied with this performance as in many respects it is the display the team has been waiting for. Constructive intelligent play was the theme and for the second game in a row did not allow the opposition a score from play. Donaghmore/Ashbourne - Danny McShane; Ciaran Finn, Cormac McGill, Sean Curran; T. Kelly (0-1), Colm O'Mealoid, Joe Finnegan; R. O'Connor, Bryan Menton; Sean Harmon (0-1), Eoin Reilly (0-2), Eoighan Riordan; Eoin Carroll (1-2), Andrew Tormey (0-4), Ciaran Ellis (0-1). Subs: Iarlaith O'Donnell for O'Connor (40 mins), Rory Maguire for Tormey (50 mins) B FL Kilbride 1-04 Donaghmore/Ashbourne 0-07 An under strength Donaghmore/Ashbourne fourth team travelled to neighbours Kilbride where both sides managed to share the points in this Division 6B league encounter. Although both sides contested well, scores were at a premium on the night. Donaghmore/Ashbourne who needed minor players Sean Kent in goals and Odhran O'Donnell at corner back to make up the starting fifteen looked comfortable and created plenty of chances in the first half. Kilbride however were the team rewarded on the scoreboard as they added points on 10, 15 and 21 minutes. Sean Benville responded on 22 minutes with a point for Donaghmore/Ashbourne. Unfortunately for the visitors a number of wides and attempts falling short they trailed at the break by 0-03 to 0-01. The second half had seen a much improved performance up front as Donaghmore/ Ashbourne slowly began to register scores. Benville added a second shortly after the restart and Scott Tormey drew the sides level. Kilbride did regain the lead mid way through the half with a pointed free. Although Scott Tormey did bring the sides level again on 42 minutes Kilbride managed to regain the lead with a fortuitous goal. A mixup in the Donaghmore/Ashbourne defence left goalkeeper Sean Kent with no chance as the ball floated into the net. To Donaghmore/Ashbourne's credit they never gave up and finished strong with substitute Ross Tormey pointing twice and Daniel Cullen getting a well deserved equaliser in injury time. Overall a draw was a fair result for both sides. It was a good honest team performance from an under strength Donaghmore/Ashbourne and with a little more composure up front a win was possible. The highlight of the performance was from adult debutants Kent and O'Donnell who were very comfortable on the ball. Donaghmore/Ashbourne: S. Kent; O. O'Donnell, M. Doherty, N. Fitzpatrick, P. Finglas; M. Finn, D. Lawlor; P. Finn, S. Benville(0-2); P. Cullen, D. Cullen (0-1), S. Tormey (0-2); E. Cawley, M. Byrne, S. O'Sullivan. Subs: R. Tormey(0-2) for P Cullen (48 mins). Tweet

Most Read Stories