Ballydonoghue 3-13 Asdee 0-03
By Jack Hennessy
In a match played in terrible weather conditions Asdee succumbed to a very heavy defeat against Ballydonoghue at Coolard. It was always going to be an uphill task for the Munster finalists as they were missing five of the starting XV from last weeks victory over Moyvane. Eoin O’ Carroll, Brian Coughlan, Padraig Ruddle were all absent due to injury while Eoin Kenndy and Eoin Tydings were unable to start the game with next weeks clash with Charleville in mind. Despite the scoreline Asdee played well in the opening twenty minutes and were level until Paul Kennelly pointed a fee on the 21st minute.
17 year old Darragh Keane made his first start at senior level for Asdee today and scored a fantastic point after 2 minutes to put John Kennedys men into the lead. Asdee were on top in possession terms in the opening quarter but were unable to make their advantage count on the scoreboard. Michael Breen levelled the match with a close range point on 12 minutes after two Paul Kennelly frees on the 7th and 10th minutes had given Ballydonoughue the lead.
Asdee were not helped by the dismissal of wing back Con Carmody on the 15th minute for a black card offence. David Connor came on as the replacement. The scoreline remained static after this until the 21st minute when Ballydonoghue regained the lead.
However, after this the game took a sudden turn for the worse for the Asdee men. A passing movement on the right side of the field led to a Ballydonoughue forward kicking for a point. The ball dropped short and into the net. This was a controversial goal as many of the Asdee backs protested to the referee that the ball had actually gone wide and went through a hole in the net.
The goal was awarded and Ballydonoghue instantly seized the initiative cutting through the defence with Paul Kennelly getting on the end of the ball to fire to the net from fifteen yards out. This left the Coolard side leading by 2-04 to 0-02 and a further score by Paul Kennelly in the 32 minute sent the home side into the interval leading by nine points.
They picked up where they left off at the start of the 2nd period with further points in the 31,32,34,35,37 minutes. The game was now about damage limitation for Asdee and the introduction of Owen Tydings and Owen Kennedy helped the team. The latter scored Asdees solitary point in the 2nd half from a point in the 23rd minute.
Asdee had more possession than the scoreline suggests and but for some wasteful finishing this game would have been closer. However, on the day Ballydononoghue were the better team and if they can maintain the momentum behind them at the minute t hroughout the course of the year they could be very serious contenders for promotion in this years County League.
Asdee Team and Scorers: Conor Coughlan, Tom Mulvihill, Martin Collins, Sean Keane, Con Carmody, Noel Long, Kieran Kelly, John Doran, Daragh Keane 0-01, Charlie Dalton, Darren Russell, Michael Walsh, Michael Tydings, Michael Breen 0-01, Paul O’ Carroll. Subs David O Connor for Con Carmody(Black Card), Eoin Kennedy 0-01 for Mike Breen, Owen Tydings for Paul O’ Carroll and Padraig Buckley for Kieran Kelly.