Davis storm back to overcome Towers
By Fergus Balfe
THOMAS Davis stormed back with a commanding second-half showing to take the spoils in their crucial AHL Division Three clash with Round Tower at Kiltipper Road on Sunday.
With both sides battling for the league play-off positions, they served up a high-quality game that lived up to its billing, as Towers surged into a four-point half-time lead, but were unable to replicate this performance after the break, allowing their clinical hosts to reel them in and snatch victory.
Davis got off to the perfect start when half-forward Kevin Ward’s low sideline cut from the right found its way through a pile of bodies and into the net for an unlikely goal just two minutes in before he added a point from the left moments later.
Half-forwards Eoin Moran and Liam O’Connor replied with well-taken scores for Towers as the visitors began to find their range, with fellow forwards Paidi Stapleton and Gary Quinlivan getting off the mark from distance soon after.
Although Conor Cooney and Michael Small notched points for Davis, a succession of scores from in-form corner-forward Alex Darbey saw the Clondalkin side go in front for the first time midway through the half.
Ward slotted a simple free to hit back, and just when Towers expected him to repeat the trick from another close-range dead ball, the half-forward caught them by surprise, driving a low effort into the net for his second goal.
Round Tower finished the half strongly and soon found the net for the first time, as great running from Paidi Stapleton created an opportunity that was ruthlessly dispatched across the goalkeeper by the impressive Darbey.
Against the run of play
The homeside then netted another goal, somewhat against the run of play, as Ward and Cooney combined to direct a loose ball past Towers ‘keeper Fergal McDonagh.
Nonetheless, further scores from Darbey and the industrious Quinlivan, as well as a goal from Eoin Moran following more good work down the left by Stapleton, ensured Towers took a deserved advantage into the interval.
However, the Tallaght side came out fighting in the second period, firing over a couple of early scores from full-forward Jim White, as the visitors struggled to clear their lines; a scenario that would become a recurring theme of the half.
Both sides had early goal chances, as Davis goal-keeper Sean Blanchfield saved brilliantly to deny Moran from the right, forcing Darbey to settle for a point, before McDonagh and full-back Podge McGeever combined at the other end to repel attempts from Ward and then Cooney.
McDonagh made another great stop soon after from Small when a goal seemed certain, after a fantastic move involving Cooney and pacey forward Zak Moradi, and when the referee awarded Davis a penalty for a collision while both sides chased the rebound, McDonagh came to the rescue once more, denying Ward.
Undeterred, Davis continued to turn the screw, taking advantage of their dominance in midfield, with free-scoring Ward driving over a handful of scores to go with those of Moradi and wing-forward Sean Reilly.
In the closing stages salt was rubbed into Towers wounds, as a long-range Reilly effort dropped short but into the net, securing an important victory for Davis that keeps them second in the table with one game remaining, while Towers’ play-off fate is now out of their hands.
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