GAA: Tullow give Éire Óg a fright

7/16/2008 - By: Kieran Murphy

SFC

Éire Óg 1-14 St Patrick’s 1-7

WITH all the hall marks of a David and Goliath affair the reigning county champions came up against a team struggling to hold on to their senior status.

The opening exchanges certainly suggested everything was going to script as Éire Óg’s free-flowing passing movements threatened to sweep the challengers off their feet. Much of the winners’ attacks were prompted by an energetic halfback line of Paul Cashin, Cormac McCarthy and Alan Curran so it was no surprise when Curran ran through un opposed and gave ’keeper, Pat Doran, no chance in the Tullow goal with a shot to the left-hand corner.

When Vinny Kavanagh swept forward from his full-back position to put his side seven points clear in the ninth minute one feared for the opposition.

Neutrals in the small crowd ne ed not have worried. When a high ball came into the Éire "g square there seemed little danger but Pat Moran blew the whistle and awarded a penalty to Tullow. Will Canavan sent Robert Moore the wrong way with an expertly struck effort. This prompted a revival by Joe Murphy’s charges and the manager referred to his side’s after the game.

“Maybe Tullow teams in the past wo uld have fallen away when it was 1-4 to 0-0. You have to give us credit though. We had great heart, great character and it is still work in progre ss. ,” said the former Éire "g player.

“The tradition is not there but there is talent in that dressing room. We didn’t come here to make up the numbers and came to win a champion-ship match but after a bad start we fought back”

They did indeed hit back and thanks to some great work by Canavan, Wayne Donoghue, Peter Fitzgerald and Paddy Byrne, they disrupted Éire "g’s passing game and were only five points behind at the break (1-8 to 1-3).

Both si de s exchanged early second half points but in the 40th minute a number of players got involved in an unsightly melee. While there were few pu nches thrown it proved to be an undignified affair. Referee, Pat Moran, resisted the temptation to produce the red card.

However minutes later he had no op tion when there was another exchange near the tunnel and both Alan O’Brien and Paddy Byrne wer e sent off.

Tullow reacted best to the reduced numbers and Padraig Murphy was on target with two points from play while Willie Quinlan, who had come in for the yellow carded Tommy Dowling, belied his years when he was on target from close in. With four points in it Éire "g appeared to be coasting.

But when Tullow’s Eoin O’Toole gained possession close in, it appeared he had to only pick his spot to ra ise the green flag. Robert Moore spread himself well, however, and blocked an almost certain goal.

It was the spur Éire "g needed and two points by Simon Rea an d another by Quinlan ended the game as a contest. Joe Murphy was left to lament the missed chance.

“With ten minutes to go we had a wonder ful chance for a goal when there were only a few points in it. Éire "g were rattled at that stage. It was Eoin’s first senior game and he had the bravery to be in the right place at the right time,” he said.“If it had slipped in then it would have been a very interesting last ten minutes. They are not county champions for nothing. When we missed that ch ance our heads dropped and the champions pulled away. We know inside that they had a chance to shock them but we matched them for long periods.”

Éire "g captain, Cormac McCarthy, was not too worried despite being outplayed for parts of the second half.

“We made a lot of stupid mistakes I suppose but fair play to Tullow. They were up for it from the start and put it up to us. Both teams haven’t played championship football for a number of weeks now and were bound to be rusty. We pulled through in the end.”

ScorersÉire "g: Simon Rea 0-6 (4fs), Alan Curran 1-1, Willie Quinlan and Andy Byrne 0-2 each, Vinny Kavanagh, Eric McCormack and Christy Bolger 0-1 each.

St Patrick’s: Will Canavan 1-3 (1-0 pen, 3fs), Padraig Murphy 0-2, Peter Fitzgerald and Wayne Donoghue 0-1 each.

ÉIRE "G: Robert Moore; Keith Moran, Shane Myers, Vinny Kavanagh; Paul Cashin, Cormac McCarthy, Alan Curran; Sean Gannon, Christy Bolger; Tommy Dowling, Alan O’Brien, Damien Farrell; Eric McCormack, Simon Rea, Andy Byrne. Subs: Willie Quinlan for Dowling (36mins), Daniel Walker for McCormack (40mins), Alan Byrne for Curran (56mins), Brendan Kavanagh for Farrell (59mins).

ST PATRICK’S: Pat Doran; Sean Dempsey, Frank Wallace, Alan O’Neill; John Kenny, Paddy Byrne, Nicholas Nolan; James O’Connor, William Canavan; Seamus Fitzgerald, Padraig Murphy, Peter Fitzgerald; John Fitzgerald, Wayne Donoghue, Kevin Lynch. Subs: Eoin O’Toole for Lynch (49mins), Colm Kenny for P Fitzgerald (57mins), Brian Kenny for Donoghue (59mins).

Man of the match: Alan Curran Ref: Pat Moran