Ballyer’ bounce back
By Hayden Moore
HAVING lost three games on the trot, Ballyfermot United bounced back with a dominant 3-1 win over Newlands/Castle Park in their Leinster Senior League Major 1D Division clash in La Fanu Park on Saturday.
It was the youthful Ballyfermot outfit that ultimately prevailed with their agility and pace causing havoc for the Castle Park backline.
Kevin Moran of Ballyfermot is shadowed by Newlands/Castle Park’s Shane Shields
Both sides made a sluggish start with Newlands also coming off the back of a losing streak, having managed just one win in their previous five games.
United settled into the occasion a lot quicker, and that was evident when centre forward Adam Maguire sold his marker with a piece of trickery before being hauled down inside the box.
The 18-year-old, who has taken to senior football for the first time this season with general ease, converted the resulting spotkick.
Newlands did have some opportunities, but ultimately could not break down Ballyfermot’s compact defence, with Tom Devine leading the line as they maintained a 1-0 lead to the break.
After the interval, Ballyfermot coach Stephen Quinn brought Gary Shaw into midfield, which in turn freed Jordan Lawless up, allowing him to get on the ball more to control the tempo.
And it worked as, within minutes, Dylan Madden had the ball in the back of the net after being played down the wing, burning his marker with his pace and picking out the bottom corner to double the deficit.
But the Clondalkin-based side were not going to go down without a fight and had several opportunities to cut the gap, but Ballyfermot ‘keeper Sean French stood firm.
Partnering the dynamic Maguire at the top of a 3-5-2 formation, Liam French popped up to bury the ball into the back of the net from six-yards-out, rattling the underside of the crossbar.
Ballyfermot then deployed up-and-coming players Kevin Moran and Connor McCormack from the bench, giving them their debut but Newlands did pull one back from a set-piece the end.
Resorting to long-ball play, Newlands found themselves with a freekick on the edge of the box and sent a low-driven shot to the goal with the striker getting a nick on the ball on its way through.
Having both played 11 games so far this season, Ballyfermot sit one-place above Newlands in 10th with only two-points separating the sides ahead of the next round of fixtures.
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