Round Tower 1-9 Naomh Mearnóg 2-7
Round Towers suffered a disheartening defeat at the hands of Naomh Mearnóg last Wednesday at Monastery Road, writes Seán Ó Deoráin.
Tower’s line-up featured many changes to the fifteen that lined out against Ballymun Kickhams in their championship loss almost three weeks ago.
Simon Owens secured a first-team spot instead of Eoghan Young, while Eoghan Moore and Cathal Carty started among the forwards.
The game was evenly balanced in the opening stages, with Conor L’Estrange registering Tower’s opening score following a free from Tom Lyons.
Naomh Mearnóg was showing their own attacking potential however, when Aidan Kenny scored a point before linking up with Daniel McLernon, only for the latter’s attempt to end up as a wide.
Towers never really settled early on, with Mearnóg forward David White unable to capitalise on a very nervy kickout from Tower’s keeper Dean Kelly, White dropping his attempt short from just outside the 21.
Cathal Carty squandered a glorious opportunity to put Towers in the driving seat after only eight minutes, after midfielder Liam Connolly sent Carty through on goal, the full-forward over-soloed the ball and came away with just a point.
Jamie Walsh was the in-form man for the Portmarnock side, scoring two consecutive frees to put Naomh Mearnóg ahead, 0-4 to 0-3, but Towers answered with a swift move. Derek Murray delivered the ball in, with Owens collecting a pass off Carty and setting up Eoghan Moore for an impressive point.
The game’s quality dropped in the run-up to half-time, with Towers unable to capitalise on the numerous chances Naomh Mearnóg afforded them. Lyons was unreliable from placed balls, and Ian Ward scuffed an opportunity to make an immediate impact as a substitute for Jason Joyce, curling the ball wide from the left-hand side.
Barry Gallagher did well to send the Clondalkin men into the break on a high, recovering from a slip in the penalty area to sneak the ball over the bar. The scoreline read 0-6 to 0-4 for Towers at half-time.
The wind was knocked clean out of their sails after the restart, however, half-forward Daniel McLernon finding the back of the net from the first play of the half.
McLernon was almost in again five minutes later, breaking in from the same wing, Kelly getting a fingertip to his low shot to send it round the left upright.
Liam Connolly had a free awarded against him on forty minutes, but Jamie Walsh made the most of it for Naomh Mearnóg. Dropping it into the penalty area, corner forward David White rising to tap it past Kelly into the same place where McLernon had buried it minutes earlier.
Towers were suddenly facing into the final quarter five points down. They restricted Mearnóg to only one point for the rest of the game, but the damage was done. Brian Costello and Jason Murphy replaced Simon Owens and Conor L’Estrange, but a Barry Gallagher goal and a Tom Lyons free wasn’t enough to overturn the deficit.
Cathal Carty came close in injury time to securing a draw, but a shot high into the air curled agonisingly wide of the left upright.
Towers now slip to mid table, with three losses from five games so far in their campaign.
Towers: D Kelly, B Keane, M Gahan, S Owens, J Kelly, D Murray, T Lyons, L Connolly, J Phillips, J Joyce, E Moore, E Finn, B Gallagher, C Carty, C L’Estrange. Subs: I Ward for J Joyce, B Costello for S Owens, J Murphy for C L’Estrange
