Tower’s edged out in league opener

THERE was disappointment for Round Tower senior footballers who finished second best to Naomh Mearnog 1-10 to 0-16 in their opening Division Two match at Monastery Road on Sunday morning.

While only three points separated the teams at the finish, it was the visitors who looked the sharper side in front of goals and chipped in with a couple of impressive scores which proved the difference.

Mearnog took their scores in the opening 20 minutes where they established a 0-7 to 0-1 lead with full forward Ian Ward striking over his sides opening score on five minutes.

The visitors played direct football with their full forward line taking their scores at every opportunity as they tested the Tower’s defence throughout.

By the 20th minute Mearnog had kicked five wides and edged further in front with a pointed free before Tower’s got a breakthrough against the run of play.

A quick ball to Michael Walsh saw him find a way through the Mearnog defence and as he went to shoot for goal he was fouled in the square to win a penalty.

Up stepped James Kelly with the spot kick which struck the cross bar and ended up in the net bringing his team back into contention.

The score gave Tower’s a lift and Ward raced through with two quick points within two minutes of each other to leave the game hanging in the balance.

At the other end, Mearnog had their best chance of a goal three minutes before the break when the ball went inches wide off Gary Cleary’s goal, before they added a point to leave three between them at half time.

Substitute Michael Cleary made an immediate impact when he kicked a good ball from play but again Mearnog were dangerous going forward with three unanswered points before Ward added another to leave it 1-6 to 0-14 six minutes into the half.

Towers rallied with Joe Leech and Ward accounting for two points as Tower’s enjoyed their best spell on 11 minutes, but no other scores arrived until the 27th minute as both defences held firm.

Mearnog kicked two great scores to push them four clear but to Tower’s credit they never gave up with Cleary adding a second and Ward kicking his sides last scores in a frantic finish.

The game got a bit messy in the closing stages and Tower’s keeper Gary Cleary was sent to the line as the hosts ran out of time chasing the draw