Back in the hunt

In the tightest division in the UCFL - you could be excused from thinking that anyone could clinch this one. Before Saturday 7 points separated 11 of the 12 members of 3a - and although some teams have played more - it seems anyone can beat anyone as recent results have proved.

In fact, Ballymount went into this one boasting 3 wins on the bounce - and Allenton had yet to win in 2011. Two draws with Rialto and Cloncastle and defeat to Brookfield had left us thinking we had a mountain to climb to get back into the race - and yesterday helped put that right.

Allenton boasted a number of changes - with the return of Paul at centre half and the addition of Eric in goal and both had excellent games, making a number of well timed tackles and some very brave goalkeeping.

In fairness to them, Ballymount had some decent chances but were denied by some great blocks.

An enforced change to the side in the middle of the first half meant Barry went to right full and Rob slotted in beside Paul as Andrew replaced Jon Redmond due to an ankle injury. Allenton reverted to 4-4-2 and started to create chances, with Ryan skipping to the byline only for Andre to sky his shot from 6 yards.

In the second half Allenton took control and created most of the chances - a lovely move involving Mark Boland, Billy and Ryan culminating in a good save from the opposition keeper.

Mick made way on the hourmark for Bobby and had put in a good shift up until then. Mark Gahan then moved up front and soon after Allenton broke the deadlock, Ryan with a great finish.

Allenton continued to boss the game, especially the midfield pairing of Billy and Andre and the back four held firm. Andrew suffered a knock ten minutes from time and was replaced by Thomas and Allenton held on for a well deserved and well needed win.

With results going our way, Allenton are now up to 2nd in the division with 10 games left to play.

Allenton 1 - 1 Cloncastle

Back to home territory and a difficult day for Allenton – even though the sun was shining in Dodder Valley. The away side arrived full of confidence after some recent good results, including a win last weekend against Rialto Madrid.

Allenton had a dream start though, a long ball downfield from Kevin beat the centre half and Mick slid it under the advancing keepers legs to make it 1-0. Allenton then had a great chance to put daylight between themselves and the opposition after Mick was brought down in the box, but he failed to convert the resulting spot-kick and Allenton went in 1-0 up at half time.

The second half was a different affair with Cloncastle taking the initiative and limiting Allenton to a couple of long range efforts, including one from Andre that went close. Ryan and Adam came on for Thomas and Andre as Allenton looked to close out the game. Disaster struck when a speculative Cloncastle effort was spooned into the Allenton net after it flicked off Mark’s head, leaving Kevin with no chance.

The game died out after this on a heavy pitch and finished 1-1. 2 points lost rather than a point gained.