Sarsfields in scrap for survival after Aghamore loss
Aghamore’s Liam Lavin (right) was in excellent form for Aghamore in their Mayo SFL Division 2 victory over Charlestown Sarsfields last Friday evening.
Aghamore produced a dominant second-half display to claim a deserved 13 points victory away to their neighbours Charlestown Sarsfields on Friday evening. After a tightly contested opening half, the visitors outscored their hosts by 1-10 to 0-4 after the interval to secure the points in impressive fashion.
The result leaves Charlestown in grave danger of relegation to Division 3. They are one of three teams locked on five points, two points above bottom of the table Hollymount-Carramore, but with a final round game away to promotion-chasing Mayo Gaels to come.
Aghamore started off brightly and had with most of the possession in the opening five minutes. They got the first score of the day when Liam Lavin slotted over a free. Charlestown found their way into the game and struck a purple patch, hitting five unanswered points. Colm Maye kicked the first score and a great piece of individual play followed from Matthew Lenehan who turned the ball over in his own back line and proceeded to break through the Aghamore defence before raising the white flag.
Captain Patrick Goldrick landed the first two-pointer of the game before Ben Crean added another point to leave the home side 0-5 to 0-1 ahead after 13 minutes.
Lavin ended Charlestown’s run with his second free of the day, and Aghamore soon followed with a goal. Their forwards pressed the Charlestown defence and forced a turnover, allowing Cillian Mooney to slot the ball past Kenneth Brennan and level the sides at 0-5 to 1-2 after 16 minutes.
Aghamore continued to dominate and followed up with a second goal after a well-worked team move that saw Conor Hunt power through a series of tackles before raising the green flag and giving the visitors a three-point lead, 2-2 to 0-5.
Aghamore goalkeeper Adam Byrne got on the scoresheet with a well-struck ’45 but Charlestown responded through the impressive Patrick Joe Dunleavy, who landed an excellent two-pointer.
Keith Cassidy and Fergal Boland added points for Aghamore to leave the score 2-5 to 0-7 and the visitors went into the break with a four-point lead following a half which saw huge defensive displays from both sides.
Aghamore made the home side wait before returning to the field for the second period but they hit the ground running with Boland slotting over two points in the first two minutes. Aghamore pushed up and put pressure on the home side, forcing them into turnovers. Lavin hit a two-pointer free to increase the lead, 2-9 to 0-7.
James Lyons, Lavin and Hunt all raised white flags, and their lead was out to 11 points after 49 minutes.
Charlestown hit their first score of the half when Ruairí Cullen slotted from a free, but the home side struggled to build attacks as Aghamore’s pressing game continued to force turnovers.
Seán Óg Tighe and the standout Lavin added further points before Patrick Goldrick hit his second two-pointer of the day from a free. David Kenny and Niall Murphy traded points before Ross Egan applied the finishing touch with an injury-time goal as Aghamore capped an impressive team performance and returned home with the points to keep their outside chances of a divisional final appearance and promotion alive.
Aghamore: Liam Lavin 0-2-2 (2tpf), Conor Hunt 1-0-1, Cillian Mooney and Ross Egan 1-0-0 each, Fergal Boland 0-0-3, Adam Byrne (’45), Keith Cassidy, James Lyons, Sean Og Tighe and David Kenny 0-0-1 each.
Charlestown Sarsfields: Patrick Goldrick 0-2-0 (1tpf), PJ Dunleavy 0-1-0, Colm Maye, Matthew Lenehan, Ben Crean, Ruairí Cullen (f) and Niall Murphy 0-0-1 each.
Charlestown Sarsfields: Kenneth Brennan; Tadgh Horkan, Ben Conway, Owen Flannery; Tómas Goldrick, Niall Murphy, Patrick Joseph Dunleavy; Thomas Holton, Eoin Murphy; Ruairí Cullen, Patrick Goldrick, Matthew Lenehan; Conor McArdle, Ben Crean, Colm Maye. Subs: Niall Towey (for Maye 42), Ciaran Honeyman (for McArdle 56), Gavin Honeyman (for Dunleavy 56), Cian Towey (for E Murphy 50).
Aghamore: Adam Byrne; Finlay Coen, Justin Kelly, Jake Glavey; James Lyons, Conor Hunt, Keith Cassidy; David Kenny, Seán Óg Tighe; Fergal Boland, Derry Óg Cox, Jack O’Connor; Robert Lyons, Liam Lavin, Cillian Mooney. Subs: Michael McNeive (for O’Connor 26), Ciaran Harrison (for Mooney 54), Ross Egan (for K Cassidy 54), Fionn Delaney (for Boland 49), David Hession (for Cox 42).
REF: Kevin Connelly (Hollymount-Carramore)
