Buggy's brilliance beats county champions
Palatine's Mark Buggy fists over one of his nine points during his team's win over county champions Old Leighlin
It took a long time for this game to burst into life but an exciting last quarter atoned for what had been a quiet affair in this senior football championship second round tie at Netwatch Cullen Park on Friday.
It took six minutes for the first score to come with Old Leighlin’s Aaron Amond finding the posts and Ian Atkinson landed a mark after being picked out by Mikey Bambrick. Mark Buggy rifled over an opening Palatine point on 13 minutes.
Tadhg Roche scored an Old Leighlin goal when he finished well into the bottom right hand corner at the scoreboard end of the ground on 14 minutes.
The three-point concession seemed to sting Palatine into a response and with Mark Buggy, Josh Egan and Conor Crowley dividing seven points between them they led 0-8 to 1-3 at the interval.
Old Leighlin had a spell of dominance in the third quarter with experienced players, Seamus Kinsella posting an orange flag and Cathal Coughlan on the mark. Yet it was the younger Mark Buggy who helped guide Palatine to victory.
He scored four points and Josh Egan and Bryan McMahon also raised white flags.
They could never put the county champions away. Old Leighlin scored the final three points of the game but that all elusive goal which would have surely given them the victory never came. Up front the Palatine forwards had done their business. Now, at the other end of the field, the eventual winners defence edged proceedings and the Bennekerry side emerged with a vital win.
M Buggy 0-9 (1-2p 2fs), J Egan 0-3, B McMahon 0-2 (1f), C Crowley 0-1.
T Roche 1-0, S Kinsella 0-3 (1-2p f), J Dowling, C Coughlan 0-2 (1f) each, I Atkinson (mark), D Fitzgerald, A Amond 0-1 each.
Craig Kearney; Gavin Healy, Cian Cashman, Conor Reynolds; Tomás Kenny, Ciaran Moran, Sean Walsh; Sam McHugh, Finbarr Kavanagh; Josh Egan, Shane O’Neill, Bryan McMahon; Mark Buggy, Conor Crowley, Jamie Kenny. Subs: Eoin Ryan for Kenny (36), James Cranny for O’Neill (55), Conor O’Doherty for Moran (55).
Steven Scallan; Kevin Carpenter, Tadhg O’Neill, Jordan Kelly; Tadhg Roche, Mark Brennan, Jamie Doyle; Ian Atkinson, David Bambrick; James Dowling, Mikey Bambrick, Aaron Amond; Cathal Coughlan, Seamus Kinsella, Darragh Fitzgerald. Subs: Ben Stanley for Brennan (16), Fionn Forde for Stanley (51), Ciaran Bambrick for Doyle (58).
Patrick Murphy (Ballinkillen)
