Owenmore Gaels 1-12 Tourlestrane 1-6

The senior men passed a severe test at Banada on Friday evening as a much improved second half showing secured a vital 2 points in our promotion quest.
Played under lights at the unusual time of 9pm we struggled in the first half. To be fair to our opposition they were very well organised, protecting their goal in numbers and with purpose.
A Colin Smith free opened the scoring before a very tentative period weilded a score of 0-1 0-0 after 13 mins. Tourlestrane equalised with a free before taking the lead after a quick counter attack, which was becoming a feature of the game and one we were having difficulty dealing with. Another Tourlestrane score followed, with Ryan Philips responding with a point after engineering some room. Tourlestrane then raised a green flag after a goalmouth scramble and we were bang in trouble. Smith knocked over a free after Dessie Flynn was fouled and we trailed 0-3 1-3 at the turnaround.
We emerged for the second half with purpose. Peter Wynne entered the fray for James Duffy with Dessie Flynn moving to midfield. Flynn made an immediate impact, winning the break from the throw-in which started a move which led to Conor Davey being fouled. Smith converted the free. Davey tagged on a point of his own before Smith sent over an outstanding free from an acute angle to tie the game.
Ronan Sweeney put us in front after finishing of a flowing move involving Roland Anderson, Wynne and Davey. Sweeney added another point after good play from Dessie Flynn. Alan Flynn and Gary Anderson came in for Aaron Nicholson and Jack Foley to freshen up the forward line. Smith hit over a free to assert our dominance before Tourlestrane got their first of the half.
We responded with a goal. Smith’s shot was drifting wide before Davey soared to keep the ball in and set up Sweeney for a neat finish. Tourlestrane hit a point in response before Smith added a nice point from play from out on the right. He added a free shortly after and then rounded off our scoring by fisting over a fine counter attack.
We defended manfully for the last few minutes to keep Tourlestrane to a consolation point, a clearance from the line by an injured Kyle Taheny springs to mind.
Stand out performances from Pa Murphy, Gareth Lavin and Roly Anderson at the back, with Dessie Flynn superb, particularly on moving to the middle in the second half.
It was an important win for the team and keeps us in contention in the league. We face another crucial game next Saturday at home vs Cloonacool at 7pm. Thanks to all who travelled, there was great vocal support for the lads.
Team: Jason Farrell, Garrett Lavin, Pa Murphy, Kyle Taheny (Stanley Harte), Dessie Flynn, Cian Whiteside, Roly Anderson, James Duffy (Peter Wynne), Ger Doyle, Conor Davey (0-1), Jack Foley (Gary Anderson), Ronan Sweeney (1-2), Ryan Philips (0-1), Colin Smith (0-8, 6F), Aaron Nicholson (Alan Flynn) Subs: Bryan Mcpartland, Keelan Bolton, Ethan McLoughlin, Adrian Egan, Rory Dillon, Simon Cashman, Tommy Trill, Kevin Healy.