Tang top Div 2

Post date: Oct 29, 2015 10:42:51 AM

Tang travelled to Castledaly last Saturday for the final round of the ACFL Division 2 League. Tang went into the game needing to win in order to gain promotion to Division 1. This was a big task as Castledaly were also vying for promotion so everything was to play for.

Tang started the better of the two sides when Niall Bannon picked out Martin Rock who popped the ball over the bar. An Aidan Burke was followed up by another Martin Rock point which put Tang three points in front. Castledaly responded with a point of their own but with Trevor English and Fergus Farrell dominating the midfield exchanges Tang increased their lead through Martin Rock and Aidan Burke. A point from Darragh Burke was sandwiched between two Castledaly frees which left three points between the sides once again. However Tang grabbed a foothold in the game when Martin Rock rounded his man and smashed the ball to the bottom corner of the net to give Tang a sizable lead. Tang continued to push on and further points from Martin Rock and Aidan Burke cancelled out two Castledaly points. In the final play of the half Damien Gill, picked out Martin Rock whose outside of the boot effort sailed between the posts. The halftime score read Tang 1-10 Castledaly 0-5.

Despite Castledaly having the wind advantage in the second half Tang started brightly again with two Aidan Burke points pushing Tang furher ahead. This seemed to spur Castledaly and they responded with two points of their own. Castledaly now looked to have the upperhand and despite strong defending from Tang a penalty was conceded. The Castledaly keeper marched up the field and dispatched it to the net. Tang were now under serious pressure but managed to keep Castledaly at bay until the last ten minutes when a Castledaly 45 ricocheted to the net to leave just two points between the sides. With Tang's backs to the wall the team really stood up to the pressure with John Rock, Robert English, Kieran Duncan and Michael Galvin in goals really coming to the fore in the final stages. Tang managed to withstand the late onslaught to win by a point.

This was a terrific team performance , which means we top Division 2 and gain promotion to the top tier of league football in Westmeath for 2016.

Team: Michael Galvin, Ian Coughlan, Kieran Duncan, Sean Coughlan, Conor Marlow, Robert English, John Rock, Trevor English, Fergus Farrell, Sean Egan, Niall Bannon, Darragh Burke, Martin Rock, Aidan Burke, Damien Gill. (subs Joe Conlon,Niall Lynn)