Cavan A.C.F.L Div 1 Round 1.

Ramor Utd 1-6 Lacken 0-6. Virginia , March 1st,. Referee; Brian Seagrave.

Ramor welcomed Lacken to Virginia on Sunday last in their first game back up in Division 1. Despite being without four of their regular starting forwards, Ramor were always in control and should have had more to spare.

There was a very large attendance in Ramor Park to witness a dogged, hard fought encounter with no quarter given or taken.

Ramor dominated the first ten minutes of play, but only registering 1-1 and squandering a number of gilt edged chances.

Shane Cole opened Ramor’s account with a point a minute into the game. James Mc Enroe, Donal Farrelly Anton O’Reilly and Paddy Brennan had a succession of wides before a well worked move involving Anton O’Reilly and James Mc Enroe set Paddy Brennan up for a fisted goal in the 8th minute.

It took Lacken until the 12th minute to register a score, when Finbar O’Reilly converted a 14yard free. Niall Mc Kiernan and James Moynagh each recorded wides for Lacken. Lacken were gaining more possession at this stage with hard fought encounters between Joe Crowe and AntonO’Reilly in the middle of the field. On the 20th minute Michael Shanaghy found Finbar O’Reilly who turned and duly slotted over the bar. The same player was fouled a minute later and he converted the free to leave just one between the sides.From the resulting kickout Shane Cole found Paul Quealy in space, who in turn was fouled and he made no mistake converting his free. Thomas Brady replaced the injured Daragh Smith for Lacken as Finbar O’Reilly’s sideline free kick drifted to the left and wide. In the 27th minute Anton O’Reilly scored a fine 45. Unfortunately for Lacken, a subsequent 45 for Finbar O’Reilly drifted wide. A chance for Michael Shanaghy went a begging on the stroke of half time as his attempt at a point also went wide. Half time score; Ramor 1-3 Lacken 0-3.

Second Half;

Ramor made a couple of changes, introducing Shane Gaffney and Christopher Sheils for Emmet Daly and Donal Farrelly.

The hosts started the second half brightly with a defence splitting pass from Shane Cole who found Paddy Brennan who flicked on to James Mc Enroe, whose rasping shot at goal was brilliantly saved by Padraig Sorohan. In the 6th minute Finbar O’Reilly converted a 45, and five minutes later he was on target with a superb free to leave the bare minimum between the

sides. Two minutes later Paddy Brennan fisted a point and James Mc Enroe, having received a pass from Shane Cole ran 50 yards to slot over a fine point. At this stage Lackens Philip Moynagh was sent to the line by Referee Brian Seagrave for a second bookable offence.Anton O’Reilly kicked over the resulting free to put Ramor four points ahead with ten minutes of play remaining. This was not a game for the faint hearted with a lot of robust challenges and scrappy episodes of play. Lacken’s marksman O’Reilly was on target again in the 24th minute with a free to leave a goal between the sides. Despite their best efforts, Lacken couldn’t penetrate the tight Ramor defence in search of the all elusive goal. The final whistle sounded to the relief of the Ramor supporters and team alike.Final score; 1-6 to 0-6

Ramor will be glad to have started off their League campaign with a victory but will need to improve greatly if they are going to pick up more points in Division 1. Lacken will surely be concerned that only one forward scored and only one point came from play. Both sides have room for reflection at this early stage of the campaign.

Ramor’s entire defence were solid as a unit, only conceding one point from play. The midfield duo of Anton O’Reilly and Shane Cole were consistent throughout, laying off superb balls to the inside forward line. The forwards were guilty of wasted chances, but all tried very hard. For Lacken, Pauric Sorohan made a couple of terrific saves. Terry Hyland, Trevor Crowe and Shane O’Reilly were sound in defence.Joe Crowe battled hard at midfield. While the forwards tried, a lot of opportunities were wasted and they will be disappointed that the only scorer was Finbar O’Reilly who was very reliable from the dead ball.

Ramor; Aodghan Cahill, Raymond Farrelly, Ray Cole, Damien Barkey, Barry Fitzsimons, Gareth Daly, Stefan Connolly, Anton O’Reilly(0-2, frees), Shane Cole(0-1), Emmet Daly, Donal Farrelly, Philip Fitzsimons, Paddy Brennan(1-1), James Mc Enroe(01), Paul Quealy.(0-1)

Subs used; Shane Gaffney, Christopher Sheils, Brian Brady.

Lacken; Pauric Sorohan, Terry Hyland, Johnny Sheridan, Shane O’Reilly, Martin Brady, Trevor Crowe, Kevin Shanaghy, Joe Crowe, James Moynagh, Ollie Mc Kiernan, Philip Moynagh, Michael Shanaghy, Daragh Smith, Finbar O’Reilly,(0-6, 5 frees) Niall Mc Kiernan.

Subs Used; Thomas Brady, Francie Mulligan.