Rathvilly blow county champions away in awesome display
Padhraig Bolger has a shot at goal for Rathvilly Photo: Pat Ahern
A fully motivated and lively Rathvilly were too good for a pedestrian Old Leighlin side in this fourth round senior football championship fourth round tie at Netwatch Cullen Park on Thursday.
Cathal Coughlan converted a third minute free for Old Leighlin and while it took them another four minutes to raise a white flag through Brandon Kelly Rathvilly quickly took over. Liam Gavin and Darragh Murphy tacked on points but they got a fright when Seamus Kinsella found space in front of goal but had to settle for a point with the defence converging.
At the other end Conor Doyle could have had at least one goal but he used his experience to punch a good point and curled another over from the right hand side of the pitch.
By half-time all the Rathvilly full-forward line had scored while Padhraig Bolger landed one of his trademark two-pointers from his leftwing-back position. Seamus Kinsella replied for Old Leighlin with two points but the Wicklow border side, with the breeze in their backs, led 0-13 to 0-4 at the break.
The second half was a carbon copy of the first. Rathvilly turned the screw and Old Leighlin were left to shoot wildly and inaccurately. Coughlan’s converted free was the sum total of the champion’s offering.
Instead, Rathvilly played out this mis-match and are through to the knock-out stages of the competition. The only thing to be decided, from their point of view, is whether it is a semi-final or quarter-final place.
L Gavin 0-5 (3fs), B Kelly 0-4, K Murphy, C Doyle 0-3 each, P Bolger 0-2 (1-2p), B Murphy, D Murphy, D Curran, E Finnegan, P Burgess 0-1 each.
S Kinsella 0-3 (1f), C Coughlan 0-2 (fs).
Regan Murphy; Paraic Deering, Colin Byrne, Robbie Ryan; Brendan Murphy, Dara Curran, Padhraig Bolger; Josh Moore, Adam Burgess; Conor Doyle, Brandon Kelly, Peter Burgess; Kevin Murphy, Darragh Murphy, Liam Gavin. Subs: Ed Finnegan for Doyle (39), Brian Smith for D Murphy (42), Daire Byrne for Ryan (43), Diarmuid Gavin for Bolger (51), Jake Elliott for K Murphy (53).
Steven Scallan; Kevin Carpenter, Alan Fitzgerald, Daniel Brennan; Tadhg Roche, Jordan Kelly, Jamie Doyle; Ian Atkinson, David Bambrick; James Dowling, Mikey Bambrick, Aaron Amond; Cathal Coughlan, Seamus Kinsella, Darragh Fitzgerald. Subs: Jack Connolly for Kinsella (42), Ruarc O’Neill for Dowling (43), Fionn Forde for Carpenter (51).
Marion Hayden (Éire Óg).
