Éire Óg edge out Palatine to reach Division 1 decider
Eire Og's Kieran Nolan breaks the challenge of Palatine's Josh Egan.
A lively Carlow Credit Union Senior Football League Division 1 Semi-final at Netwatch Cullen Park on Friday saw Éire Óg emerge narrow winners in what was an entertaining early season clash between these two great rivals.
From the off both sides stated their intentions with Ben McCarron, the Éire Óg net minder saving from Josh Egan at the O’Hanrahan end of the ground.
The Palatine man had a consolation point shortly afterwards and, his team mate, Tomas Kenny also slotted a point.
A McCarron long range free got the YIs off the mark but Palatine persisted and Eoin Ryan scored 1-1 in quick succession at the start of the second quarter to ease his side four point clear.
Éire Óg hit back and scored four points without reply to give them a 0-9 to 1-3 advantage at the break. Chris Blake and Colm Hulton had been the architect of the Éire Óg purple patch scoring a two-pointer each while Darragh O’Brien also converted a free.
Two early second half points from Kyle Nolan and Blake looked set to give Éire Óg the momentum to go on and win easily. In reply, Shane O’Neill’s two pointer helped stem their opponents. Putting pressure on their opponents and when Éire Óg failed to clear their lines, Jack Deacy pounced for a close range 38th minute goal.
Once again, the Teach Asca side hit back and O’Brien and McCarron points nudged them in front. Palatine came forward and Mark Buggy levelled with nine minutes to go. It was anybody’s game but Éire Óg displayed that little bit more hunger and points from Niall Quinlan (free), Ross Dunphy and McCarron (free) pushed them three clear.
There was a surreal moment in injury time where an Éire Óg back-pass just inside the Palatine half went to no-one in particular. Both sides finally dawned that the ball was in play. Palatine reacted best and in one last attack, an Éire Óg defender took one for the team in front of the posts.
It would have been a tall order to score a goal and level the contest against a packed defence. An so it proved to be as Éire Óg advanced to the decider.
C Blake 0-6 (2-2ps), B McCarron 0-4 (1-2pf 2fs), C Hulton 0-3 (1-2p), D O’Brien 0-2 (1f), R Dunphy, K Nolan, N Quinlan (f) 0-1 each.
E Ryan 1-1, S O’Neill 0-4 (1-2p 1-2pf), J Deacy 1-0, J Egan 0-2, T Kenny, M Buggy 0-1 each.
Ben McCarron; Fiach O’Toole, Eoghan Byrne, Kieran Nolan; Lee Moore, Adam Nolan, Alex Delaney; Mark Furey, Kyle O’Byrne; Benny Kavanagh, Darragh O’Brien, Kyle Nolan; Colm Hulton, Chris Blake, Ronan Quinlan.
Ryan Donnelly Finn for Byrne (h/t), Ross Dunphy for Quinlan (38), Diarmuid Ruth for Kavanagh (50), Mark Behan for O’Brien (53), Niall Quinlan for O’Byrne (53).
Craig Kearney; Gavin Healy, Darragh Fitzpatrick, Conor Reynolds; Tomas Kenny, Cian Cashman, Jack Deacy; Finbarr Kavanagh, Ciaran Moran; Josh Egan, Eoin Ryan, Bryan McMahon; Andrew Kehoe, Conor Crowley, Brandon Cassidy.
Shane O’Neill for Crowley (5), Mark Buggy for McMahon (45).
Johnny Murphy (St Mullins).
