An excellent all round performance by this Johnstown side this morning in a very windy MDL, a result that was long over due.
Johnstown started off very quick and played some very good football early on and it wasn’t long before we went ahead, the ball broke to Adam Cummins just outside the Athboy box, he took 1 touch before unleashing a great shot across the keeper into the far corner of the net.
Athboy got back into the game against the run of play after a bit of mis-understanding in the Johnstown defence and the ball was played into an empty goal.
Johnstown went ahead again after a great corner by Darren Finnegan which fell to Mark Dowdall who slotted the ball home. Johnstown scored their 3rd shortly afterwards, when the very impressive Darren Finnegan won a penalty for his team, which was slotted home calmly by Adam O’Connor.
Athboy responded well, won a penalty themselves and made it 3-2 at half time. Johnstown had a player sent off just before half time which led to a very tense 2nd half.
The 2nd half kicked off with Johnstown down to 10 men and playing against a strong wind, but the lads showed real determination and a great fighting spirit and inside 10 minutes we were 4-2 up, Adam O’Connor put in a great tackle on the Athboy right back, the ball fell to Adam Cummins who played a 1st time ball down the line for Mark Dowdall to run onto, Mark cut inside into the box and drew a number of defenders towards him, he then played a simple pass to Darren Finnegan who slotted the ball away for a well deserved goal.
Athboy pushed forward in the hope of getting back into the game but the Johnstown midfield and defence held strong and worked tirelessly for each other, the odd ball that did get beyond them was dealt with by Daniel Murphy in the Johnstown goal. At the other end Mark Dowdall was a great outlet for his team as he had the Athboy defenders very worried with his pace and strength.
This was an excellent result against a very good footballing side and showed everyone what this Johnstown team are capable. Well done lads, I’m delighted for you’s, it was a well deserved result, now lets push on from this and have a good go at the other teams in this league.
Johnstown Daniel Murphy, Darren Clarke, Glenn Sheeran, Sean McGinley, Adam Barrett, Darren Finnegan, Adam Cummins, Adam O’Connor(c), Sean Kavanagh, Mark Dowdall, Christy Dillon, Timi Sowunmi, Lorcan McKeever, Jack Martin, Luke Conn