Bray looking very healthy
Two victories for Emmets
BRAY EMMETS COOLKENNO 1-11 0-10
BRAY EMMETS have all but secured their Senior status with victory over Coolkenno in the Keating Trophy, a win that will no doubt make their hurlers happy and let them concentrate exclusively on the county final this weekend without the lingering threat of relegation.
They were the better team in a match that never caught fire until the last few minutes, something not helped by the tiny crowd. They didn’t dominate the game or anything to that extent, however it was only Eamon Rossiter who threatened the Bray defence at any stage, his teammates unable to find the target.
Bray had a greater array of scorers, almost half their scores came from their defence, and looked that little bit more dangerous than Coolkenno. They led at half time by a couple of points and when Marc Lennon scored a goal in the 44th minute it gave them a five point cushion that was more than enough.
Wing back Shane Lohan opened the scoring that just crept inside the upright, a couple of the Coolkenno supporters were still not certain about it minutes later. The teams then kicked six wides between them, a couple of them easy chances while others were a result of poor shot selection.
It took ten minutes for Rossiter to register Coolkenno’s first point and the teams went tit for tat for the next fifteen minutes, emerging level at four points apiece on the 25 minute mark. Bray kicked over a couple of late scores to end the half by six points to four, Conor O’Doherty capping an impressive half with a point.
The teams kicked a free each to leave two between the teams by the 44th minute when Marc Lennon raced through the Coolkenno defence to get a goal. He almost let the chance slip by passing to a teammate in a poorer position but he got the ball back and bundled it into the net.
That opened up some daylight between the teams and whenever Coolkenno scored Bray would match it to keep them at arm’s length. John Henderson kicked a wonderful point in that time, running from his own 45 in support of his teammates and taking on the kick at the posts just as Coolkenno might have thought they had a chance.
Indeed, Coolkenno reeled off three points in a row from Henderson’s score to reduce the deficit to two as the game entered five minutes of injury time. Jim Cushe got the last of that trio with a beauty off the outside of his boot and Paul O’Keeffe’s kick out was critical.
Bray’s Rory Breslin rose highest and a few passes later Cathal McGee split the posts. Conor Flannery added the final point on the stroke of full time to make it a four-point victory.
A solid result for a Bray team that was missing many players earlier in the summer due to travel and whose season appeared to be derailed but they will play Senior football next year unless very specific results don’t go their way. They sit atop the Keating Trophy at the moment.
For Coolkenno, life isn’t as certain though they are masters of their own fate, a win against Annacurra or Newtown should guarantee their Senior status. Two losses however and they are in big trouble.
Scorers – Bray Emmets: Marc Lennon 1-00; Des Kelly (1f), Conor Flannery (1f), Rory Breslin 0-02 each; Conor O’Doherty, Shane Lohan, Gavin Dowling, John Henderson, Cathal McGee 0-01 each.
Coolkenno: Eamon Rossiter (4f) 0-06; Paddy Dalton (1 45) 0-02; Jim Cushe, Brian Rossiter 0-01 each.
Paul O’Keeffe; Cormac Martin, Con Benville, Conor O’Doherty; Shane Lohan, Ben McCormack, Des Kelly; Rory Breslin, Gavin Dowling; Niall McGraynor, John Henderson, Niall Gaffney; Marc Lennon, Cathal McGee, John O’Keeffe. Subs: Mark Lenihan for Cormac Martin (HT); Conor Flannery for Niall McGraynor, Peter Quinlan for Niall Gaffney (both 41 mins).
John Corcoran; Shane Walker, Jim Cushe, Cathal Rossiter; Colm Murphy, Philip Timmons, Robert Keogh; Paddy Dalton, James Gregan; Conor Doyle, John Kavanagh, Daniel O’Neill; Eoghan Dolan, Eamon Rossiter, Brian Rossiter. Subs: Paul Keogh for Daniel O’Neill (47 mins); Pearse McCarthy for Robert Keogh (51 mins).
Eddie Leonard