Éire Óg snatch draw with storming finish
Eire Og's Niall Quinlan scores a great goal for Eire Og in the second half against Old Leighlin
An incredible finish where Éire Óg hit four two pointers out of their five final scores saw them come away with a share of the spoils against their old rivals in this senior football championship group 1 first round game at Netwatch Cullen Park on Saturday.
Two goals in quick succession from Darragh Fitzgerald and Seamus Kinsella for Old Leighlin just on the end of the third quarter looked to have been enough.
Somehow, Éire Óg dug deep and when Sean Gannon flighted over the first two pointer in an amazing sequence the comeback looked possible.
Niall Quinlan added a brace of two point frees and Lee Moore also pointed for Éire Óg to reduce their deficit to two. Adam McCarron was the one who secured a two-point equaliser in injury time which will surely have left the YIs in a more positive mood as the teams left the ground.
Against the wind and playing into the O’Hanrahan end of the ground, Éire Óg had started impressively with Niall Quinlan accounting for 1-2 of their early scores which swamped an Old Leighlin free from Seamus Kinsella.
The goal was down to Éire Óg pressure when they pressed the kick-out and forced the turnover.
At the end of the first quarter, Aaron Amond scored two two-pointers from play for Old Leighlin. It was his side’s turn to execute a turnover when the Éire Óg defence was caught in possession. Amond still had it all to do but he found the net with an unstoppable shot.
Éire Óg finished the half strongly with Darragh O’Brien and Quinlan pointing to leave Old Leighlin leading 1-7 to 1-6 at the change of ends. Then came that extraordinary second half which heralds the start of the championship in earnest.
N Quinlan 2-7 (2-2pfs,1f), A McCarron (1-2pt), S Gannon (1-2pt) 0-2 each, L Moore, C Blake, D Ruth, D O’Brien, C Hulton 0-1 each.
A Amond 1-5 (2-2pts), S Kinsella 1-2 (1f), D Fitzgerald 1-0, C Coughlan 0-3 (2fs), J Dowling 0-2, N Roche 0-1.
Johnny Furey; Cathal Kelly, Mark Furey, Lee Moore; Shane Buggy, Benny Kavanagh, Adam Nolan; Eoghan Ruth, Sean Gannon; Diarmuid Ruth, Colm Hulton, Reece Denieffe; Darragh O’Brien, Niall Quinlan, Chris Blake.Subs: Adam McCarron for Hulton (40), Kelvin Chatten for E Ruth (44), Alex Delaney for Ruth (46), Ross Dunphy for Kavanagh (48), Paul McElligott for Dunphy (53).
Steven Scallan; Jordan Kelly, Niall Roche, Tadhg O’Neill; Tadhg Roche, Sean Bambrick, Sean Taylor; Ian Atkinson, Jamie Doyle; Aaron Amond, Mikey Bambrick, James Dowling; Cathal Coughlan, Seamus Kinsella, Darragh Fitzgerald. Subs: David Bambrick for Taylor (h/t), Ruarc O’Neill for Doyle (55), Shane Dooley for Dowling (60)
Patrick Murphy (Ballinkillen)
