Kelly penalty seals draw
ST. MARY’S (M’TN) 4-8 D’TOWN-C’CUDDY 4-8
AN INJURY time penalty from James Kelly earned Davidstown-Courtnacuddy a share of the spoils after an action-packed Greenstar Under-20 football championship Division 4B encounter at The Rocks on Wednesday.
St. Mary’s looked to have turned the tide in their favour when scoring an unanswered 1-3 between the 50th and 58th minutes to fashion a three-point advantage, but when Kelly got his chance in additional time he made no mistake.
The teams weren’t long about hinting at the goal rush to come, with Davidstown-Courtnacuddy awarded a penalty in the fifth minute after Darragh Cooper was fouled. Up stepped Kelly to take the spot-kick, but goalkeeper Luke Rogan got down well to make the save.
The miss looked even more costly three minutes later when the hosts pounced for a goal. Leon Nolan-Cullen won possession and picked out the lethal Todd Hynes who finished with aplomb to the corner of the net.
The Wexford town crew stretched their lead to 1-2 to nil, but after the impressive Seán Cooper eventually got Davidstown-Courtnacuddy off the mark in the 19th minute, they plundered a goal seconds later.
A James Kelly delivery into the danger zone was well fetched by Stephen Hickey, and he fed the inrushing Pádraig Loughlin who took his chance from close range.
However, St. Mary’s built up a 2-4 to 1-3 advantage by the interval, with Adam Baziz grabbing their second goal, gathering a Hynes pass and shooting low to the net in the 27th minute.
The Maudlintown side seemed to have tightened their grip on the contest within three minutes of the turnaround when Hynes netted his second goal.
Leon Nolan-Cullen fielded the ball brilliantly in midfield before sending Hynes on his way, and the attacker did the rest, bursting forward with menace before rocketing the ball past netminder Barry Nolan to give his side a 3-5 to 1-3 lead.
However, Davidstown-Courtnacuddy then completely turned the game on its head, scoring 2-5 without reply by the 47th minute to take a 3-8 to 3-5 advantage.
James Kelly scored the first of two quickfire goals for the Enniscorthy District side in the 40th minute, bursting through before planting the ball past Luke Rogan, and seconds later Eoin Furlong gathered possession and finished with similar panache, finding the top corner of the net.
In a topsy-turvy contest, it was St. Mary’s turn to rediscover their mojo and Todd Hynes completed his hat-trick to help them to a 4-8 to 3-8 advantage with just over two minutes of normal time remaining.
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy were handed one last chance deep into injury time when referee Mick Lanigan awarded them a penalty, and Kelly did the needful this time around.
St. Mary’s (Maudlintown): Luke Rogan; David Tennant, Cade Caulfield, Patsy Whelan; Kian Whelan, Mark Doyle, Steven Doyle; Ramish Amakan, Adam Baziz (1-0); Byron Sweeney (0-1), Todd Hynes (3-3, 0-3 frees), Lee Nolan (0-2); Conor Morris, Leon Nolan-Cullen (0-1 free), T.J. Nolan (0-1).
Davidstown-Courtnacuddy: Barry Nolan; Conor Blythe, Rory Loughlin, Peadar Roche; James Doyle, Mark Murphy, Mark Kavanagh; Seán Cooper (0-5), Pádraig Loughlin (1-0); Eoin Furlong (1-0), James Kelly (2-3, 1-0 pen., 0-1 free), Brian Ormonde; Charlie Dunne, Darragh Cooper, Stephen Hickey.
Referee: Mick Lanigan (Shelmaliers).