First round of games in Newtownards Cup sees UCD and Dublin Bay Prawns go undefeated
The first round of matches in the Newtownards Cup took place in An Dangan Sports Grounds on Saturday, the 15 November. The Cup, being played on a round robin basis this season, features 5 teams, Dublin Avengers, Dublin Bay Prawns, Galway and two sides from University College Dublin.
The games started off on a close note with the Dublin Bay Prawns facing old rivals, the Dublin Avengers. Dublin took an early lead off a stray clear by stand-in goalie, Paul Murran, which was powered home by Mike Kennedy. However, two solo efforts from Cillian Murphy overturned the deficit, before Kennedy answered again for the Avengers. The half ebbed and flowed in a similar manner until half-time with the Prawns leading 4-3. However, the second half began with the Prawns establishing a dominant position through goals by Murphy and Mark Colgan. A late goal by Avengers’ James Nolan reduced the margin to two before two goals in the final five minutes by the Prawns ended the contest.
Final Score: Avengers 4 – 8 Prawns
The second game of the game witnessed an even closer encountered between the UCD Seconds and Galway. Galway raced into an early lead through goals by Austin Gonzalez, Dan Hynes and Jake Royle before the UCD side stabilised their defence. Despite there being many opportunities at both ends, the match concluded without any further goals.
Final Score: Galway 3-0 UCD 2
In a rematch of last year’s final, the UCD Firsts took on the Avengers. While the faces on both sides had changed significantly, the quality of the game was no less impressive. As in their earlier game, the Avengers scored early only to be soon pegged back by the reigning champions. The UCD offence lead by Sean O’Shaughnessy scored four goals in a 8 minute burst to which the Dublin side had little response. At the half time whistle, the score was 5-2. A much more resolute Avengers team emerged in the second half with a particularly impressive performance from stand-in face off man, Ruairi Dunbar guaranteeing more possession. However, they were never able to reduce the margin below three goals. Ciaran Boylan and Matt Carney lead the way for UCD with three goals apiece.
Final Score: Avengers 5 – 8 UCD 1
The continued development of many of the UCD rookies was evident in their second game against the Prawns. Their energy and physicality meant that the seasoned Prawns outfit created fewer opportunities than in the day’s first match-up. Cillian Murphy again lead the scoring for the Prawns , who finished the day undefeated and leading the league on basis of having conceded the least goals. However, the biggest cheer of the day was reserved for Andy Byrne’s effort for UCD which gave them their first score in this season’s competition.
Final Score: Prawns 5-1 UCD 2
The day’s final game pitted the two other undefeated sides, UCD Firsts and Galway, against one another. The greater experience of the UCD outfit soon came to fore with Carney and Boylan again scoring early goals to put their side in a dominant position. The result never looked in doubt after this despite two goals from Galway’s Brian Miller. In the second half, the UCD goals were spread more evenly with Mike Lofrese and Josh Apple amongst the scorers. A mention must also be made of Eric Caliendo, who played and starred in goals for both UCD teams.
Final Score: Galway 2 – 7 UCD 1
Standings
| P | W | D | L | F | A | BP | Total Points | |
| Prawns | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| UCD 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 7 | 0 | 8 |
| Galway | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| Dublin | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 16 | 1 | 1 |
| UCD 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
Statistics
| Team |
Goals |
Assists |
Points |
|
| Cillian Murphy | Prawns |
8 |
2 |
10 |
| Matt Carney | UCD |
6 |
0 |
6 |
| Ciaran Boylan | UCD |
4 |
2 |
6 |
| Sean O’Shaughnessy | UCD |
2 |
3 |
5 |
| Martin Scanlon | Prawns |
1 |
4 |
5 |
| Mike Kennedy | Avengers |
4 |
0 |
4 |
| Mark Colgan | Prawns |
3 |
0 |
3 |
| Michael Lofrese | UCD |
2 |
1 |
3 |
| Ruairi Dunbar | Prawns |
1 |
2 |
3 |
| Jordan Cummings | Avengers |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Brian Miller | Galway |
2 |
0 |
2 |
| Simon Johns | Avengers |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Josh Apple | UCD |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| Drew Wichmann | Avengers |
0 |
2 |
2 |
| Jake Morris | Avengers |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Andy Byrne | UCD |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Austin Gonzalez | Galway |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Jake Royle | Galway |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Dan Hynes | Galway |
1 |
0 |
1 |
| Eoin Parsons | UCD |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Tadhg Bolger | Prawns |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Chris Clarkson | Galway |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| James Nolan | Avengers |
0 |
1 |
1 |
| Conor Clark | Galway |
0 |
1 |
1 |
Fixtures
The second and final round of matches in this season’s cup takes place in Newtownards on the 29th November.
10am: Dublin v UCD 2
11am: Prawns v Galway
12pm: UCD 1 v UCD 2
1pm: Galway v Dublin
2pm: UCD 1 v Prawns
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