Doyle's late two-pointer wins it for 13-man Rathvilly
Conor Doyle was in inspirational form for Rathvilly
A long range two point free from Conor Doyle with the last kick of the game saw 13 man Rathvilly take their second win in the senior football championship at Netwatch Cullen Park on Thursday.
It was a game of inches which could have gone either way at the end. The eventual winners will surely have gone into the dressing room wondering how they were trailing at the interval. They had created the better chances in the opening half with Darragh Murphy scoring a 19th minute goal at the O’Hanrahan end of the ground. Raiding down the left, his finish to the bottom right-hand corner was perfect giving Rathvilly a 1-3 to 0-5 lead. Kevin Murphy and Padhraig Bolger raised further white flags for Rathvilly and they looked to be in command.
Bagenalstown Gaels dressed themselves down and Jake Doyle scored a neat point. Rathvilly hit back with an excellent Dara Curran point but their rivals enjoyed the better of the exchanges late into the second quarter. Cian Doyle and Paddy McDonnell both pointed from play with Rathvilly’s Conor Doyle flighting over a long range effort from just inside the Dee.
Then came the talking point of the half when Darragh Nolan, with ball in hand, held off some tackles on the end line at the tunnel end. Getting close to goal, he took his chances with a shot along the ground which Regan Murphy stopped but was unable to stop crossing the line. That three-pointer gave Bagenalstown Gaels a 1-9 to 1-8 lead at the break.
A Liam Gavin free levelled matters one minute into the second half but a superb goal from Conor Doyle pulled Rathvilly clear once again. Looping from right to left the Carlow intercounty player found himself bearing down on goal at a narrow angle. Without fuss his rocket found the top right hand corner of the net.
It seemed to be Rathvilly’s to lose now but they had Josh Moore sent off thanks to a second yellow.
The Gaels never fully capitalised with their extra player and were five points down when Jamie Clarke ran at the Rathvilly defence. Even though he shipped a high tackle his shot flew just inside the left-hand post.
With six minutes to go, it was anyone’s game and two minutes into injury time Oisin Dillon converted a two point free to level matters for the Gaels. Minutes before that, Rathvilly’s Peter Burgess had received a straight red after a number of players squared up to each other.
With the sides level, Rathvilly won possession inside their own half but outside the two-point line. They drew the free and Conor Doyle, just like he has been doing for club and county for so long now, took on the responsibility when finding the posts to clinch the victory.
L Gavin 0-7 (3fs 2p), C Doyle 1-3 (1-2pf), D Murphy 1-0, P Bolger 0-3, D Curran 0-2, K Murphy 0-1.
C Doyle 0-6 (2fs 1-2pf), D Nolan, J Clarke 1-0 each, Jake Doyle, J Dillon 0-2 each P McDonnell, O Dillon, R Kane, J McCullagh 0-1 each.
Regan Murphy; Paraic Deering, Colin Byrne, Robbie Ryan; Eric Molloy, Dara Curran, Padhraig Bolger; Josh Moore, Adam Burgess; Conor Doyle, Brandon Kelly, Peter Burgess; Kevin Murphy, Darragh Murphy, Liam Gavin. Subs: Brynn Nolan for D Murphy (48), Kenneth Bello for A Burgess (51).
Rory Doyle; Thomas McDonnell, Sean Wall, Patrick Abbey; Patrick McDonnell, Danny Doyle, Jack McCullagh; Oisin Dillon, Darragh Nolan; Jason Dillon, Jamie Clarke, Jake Doyle; Cian Doyle, Robbie Kane, Niall Bolger. Subs: Alan Wall for Bolger (temporary 34), Wall for McCullagh (58), Billy Fitzpatrick for Nolan (58).
