Double delight for flying AGB!
Carter and Culleton Cups won
AGB AVOCA 5-11 0-04
IT was double delight for the men of AGB on Thursday night last in Ballinakill when they cruised past a battling Avoca to collect the Carter Cup and the Culleton Cup thanks to a performance that would suggest they are worthy of considerably higher ranking.
The Carter Cup is a well-established and highly respected tournament in Wicklow, and the addition of the Culleton Cup is a welcome step. County Vice-Chairman Martin Fitzgerald spoke kindly and warmly about the late Brian Culleton, in whose memory the cup is named, and of his efforts and dedication to Wicklow GAA over the years during the presentation after the game.
Moira Mann, daughter of Brian Culleton, was on hand to present the Culleton Cup to AGB vice-captain Ian Bracken.
It was clear from the off that AGB were operating in a different gear to Avoca.
An early Garrett Kenny goal sent them on their way and they had accumulated a 1-07 to 0-02 lead by the time Mattie Dowling sounded the half-time whistle.
Avoca certainly didn’t just roll over in this game. In fact, AGB will be very aware they were in a battle, with some hard hits and tough challenges going in from both sides over the course of the hour.
The problem for Avoca was that they couldn’t harvest the scores with the ease AGB managed. Too often in the middle third they were turned over and their defence was strecthed with the pace and passing of their AGB opponents.
Andrew Doyle got Avoca off the mark to make it AGB 1-04, Avoca 0-01; AGB’s points coming from the impressive Jack Darcy, Tiernan McBride, Alan McBride and beefy full-forward Darragh Culleton.
There were numerous changes in the early stages. Avoca full-back Brian Canavan was at midfield while Robert Wilson, wearing number eight, was at full-back on Darragh Culleton.
Further points from Jack Darcy, Alan McBride (free), and Garrett Kenny were answered by a Martin Kenny free after 31 minutes to leave the score reading 1-07 to 0-02 in favour of the AGB men.
Key to the dominance for AGB was the pace of the half-forwards, Stevie Mills and Garrett Kenny, while a resolute defence marshalled by Jack Hamilton at full-back and Paul Donohue at center-half back were proving miserly beyond belief.
A Tiernan McBride goal after three minutes of the second half confirmed the AGB dominance and although Avoca battled bravely and added two nice scores, it was AGB who romped home, bagging three more goals before the final whistle, a beauty from Jack Darcy and two thumping efforts from Darragh Culleton.
Scorers – AGB: Tiernan McBride 1-03, Garrett Kenny 1-02, Jack Darcy 1-02, Darragh Culleton 2-01, Alan McBride 0-03 (3f).
Avoca: Martin Kenny 0-02 )1f), Andrew Doyle 0-01, Patrick Kennedy 0-01.
Kyle O’Connor; Tadhg O’Callaghan, Jack Hamilton, Brendan O’Sullivan; Thomas Hurley, Paul Donohue, Jonathan Doyle; Jack Furlong, Tiernan McBride; Stevie Mills, Jack Darcy, Garrett Kenny; Ciaran O’Shea, Darragh Culleton, Alan McBride. Subs: Ross McBride for G Kenny, Ger Kavanagh for B O’Sullivan
Luke Burke; Niall McCauley, Brian Canavan, Eoin Murtagh; Chris Arthur, Stephen McCauley, Michael O’Neill; Robert Wilson, Mikey Fahy; Andrew Doyle, Patrick Kennedy, Dean Power; Robbie Ward, Martin Kenny, Johnny Arthur. Subs: Chris Canavan for E Murtagh, Darren Keogh for J Arthur, Anthony Doran for M O’Neill, Michael O’Neill for A Doyle.
Mattie Dowling (Carnew)