Davitts Open League Account With Hard Fought Win

Swatragh 2-07 Lavey 0-11

The Davitts eventually got their opening league victory of the season against Lavey at Davitt Park. With both sides desperate for league points this was always going to be a hard fought encounter.

Lavey made the better start, and with their forwards showing some great pace they were causing the Swatragh defence plenty of problems. Lavey started to get scores on the board that their play deserved and after 20 mins had eked out a 0-06 – 0-01 lead.

However in the final ten minutes of the half Swatragh began to find their stride and finished strongly with four unanswered points to leave just the minimum between the sides at the interval.

After the restart Swatragh got the opening point to draw level, and after 40 mins the Davitts were awarded a penalty when a Lavey defender handled the ball on the ground in the square under intense pressure from Kirk.

The penalty was clinically converted by Ruairi Convery to give the Davitts the lead for the first time. Lavey continued to fight hard and managed to close the gap by a point, but a second Swatragh goal by Seanie McGuckin gave the Davitts the breathing space they needed to close out the victory.

Lavey did manage to close to close the gap back to two pints by the final whistle, but the victory never appeared to be in doubt after the second goal hit the back of the net.

It was a long overdue victory for the Davitts who have struggled to close out games so far this season. Hopefully this result will act as a catalyst for the rest of the season. With the championship just around the corner the team could be hitting form at just the right time.

The midfield pairing of Friel and Convery took over in the second half, and with McGuckin and Kirkpatrick showing well for possession up front Swatragh regularly looked threatening.  However with a poor tally of nine missed frees and six balls dropped into the goalkeepers hands they need to get more clinical in front of goals to put games beyond doubt.

Team:
Brian Og McAtamney, S. Bradley, M. Quinn, M. Quinn, P. Mooney, R. Dillon, G. Turner, M. Friel, M. Conway, M. McKenna, R. Convery, S. McNicholl, S. McGuckin, L. Kearney
Subs: M. Kirkpatrick for S. Kearney (inj), S. Kearney for L. Kearney, M. Dillon for M. Quinn.