MICHAEL LYNG MOTORS SFC GROUP 1
O’HANRAHAN’S 0-15 PALATINE 1-9
O’HANRAHAN’S avenged their championship exit at the hands of Palatine last year with a deserved win over the 2008 finalists on Sunday despite conceding five points without reply during 19 second half minutes.
Palatine’s Eddie McGarry, who got married on Thursday, deferred his honeymoon until Monday so he could play a part in the game. He scored a point, but it wasn’t enough to stop defeat for Palatine, their first in this year’s SFC.
O’Hanrahan’s made it two wins from two, even though they had a few players missing.
“We’ve Ken Kavanagh out this week as he’s away on holidays, and we’ve one or two injuries. We don’t have a huge panel, so when we’re down two or three players it’s tough for us,” said manager Mick Condon.
It may have been tough, but the Blues will certainly be happy with their remarkably low wides tally, sending just four shots outside the uprights compared to nine from their opponents. Another impressive statistic is that all six O’Hanrahan’s forwards scored at least two points each quelling the queries shot at them after their opening game.
The game had one ‘sending off’ - Palatine selector Paud O’Dwyer was confined to the stand following protests with an umpire who awarded a point in the closing stages to Ray Walker. As the point was allowed, O’Dwyer was near the goalposts with water bottles so was well placed to vent his frustration over what appeared from the stand to be a wide, but only just.
Palatine’s veteran full-forward Brian Kelly doubled his senior championship tally, scoring 1-4 to add to the 0-7 he scored against Kilbride.
His seventh minute goal came from a rebound after his first attempt was blocked, and in a predictably close contest, you wondered if it would turn out to be the decisive score. O’Hanrahan’s, however, went on to turn a 0-2 to 1-1 deficit into a 0-10 to 1-3 lead by half time.
“I hate goals anyway because a goal kills you off, particularly in championship games,” Condon told The Nationalist. “But they only scored three points apart from that in the first half. We were scoring pretty well and most of them came from play. We had problems among the forwards, but we’re building on that and hopefully more scores will come.”
The standard of football from both teams was very high in the first quarter, and with scores coming fast from both teams it meant that any mistake or dispossession a player made proved costly.
The goal seemed to motivate O’Hanrahan’s. The fact they outscored Palatine by eight points to two in the final 23 minutes of the first half speaks for itself. They had a goal chance of their own when Mark Davis gathered a poor Tom Nolan clearance and struck the right upright.
O’Hanrahan’s had a poor second half. It opened brightly with a Gavin Walker point straight from the restart, but their next score didn’t come until the 50th minute.
Palatine scored five unanswered points during this period and it’s a toss-up between two contenders as to which was the best. Brian Kelly added a point that was preceded by an inch-perfect long ball from Lee Gordon, a pass which showed great awareness.
Billy Murphy’s point followed, and although it came from inside the square, it was particularly well struck as he was forced into taking an overhead kick with his back to the posts. The other points came from John Reid (two) and Gavin Farrell.
The five points meant that Palatine drew level and Mick Condon credits his team’s experience for their win.
“They were always going to get a spell. They came out in the second half and they were really up for it. They certainly put it up to us when they got those five points. We had to push on from there and we showed great character by coming back and going four points up at one stage. I think we showed our experience,” he said.
O’Hanrahan’s added four points in the last ten minutes thanks to Breffni Hannon, Mark Davis, Ray Walker’s dubious point and another point which David Bermingham fisted over the bar from a remarkably tight angle. Brian Kelly added a late consolation point for Palatine in the game’s final minute.
“We’re very happy with the two wins. It’s great to get over Palatine after last year. They’re not a bad side. They’ve been in the last two county finals. We’ve won nothing yet though. It’s nice to get the victory and hopefully it keeps us in contention for a semi-final spot, that’s what we’re trying for,” Condon said.
Palatine meet St Patrick’s tomorrow night (Thursday) while the Blues’ next game is against Old Leighlin on Saturday. The players Condon will have at his disposal are still unknown however.
“I’m not sure exactly who will be available. We’ve training on Thursday night and we’ll know then. We’ve one or two lads that we’re unsure of, but they haven’t declared themselves unfit. We won’t have Ken Kavanagh back who played the first day, so we’ll probably be down two or three,” he said.
O’Hanrahan’s: John Brennan; Alan Smith, Seamus Farrell, Karol English; Willie Kinsella, Barry English, Breffni Hannon (�-�); Collie Nolan, Phillip Nolan; Ray Walker (�-�), David Bermingham (�-�, �f), Mark Carpenter (�-�); Mark Davis (�-�), Alan Quigley (�-�f), Gavin Walker (�-�). Subs: Brian Quigley for Collie Nolan (��mins), David Walker for G Walker (��mins).
Palatine: Tom Nolan; Dermot McDonald, Brian Farrell, John Kenny; David Kinsella, Joe Byrne, Lee Gordon; Niall Reid, John Reid (��); David Reid, Eddie McGarry (�-�), Billy Murphy (�-�); Eoin McMahon, Brian Kelly (�-� �f), Gavin Farrell (��). Subs: Pakie O’Toole for McMahon (��mins), Paul Reid for McDonald (��mins), Darren Reid for G Farrell (��mins).
Ref: Pat Moran (Graiguecullen)