Two late goals give Gusserane a thrilling win

IF THE entertainment served up in Hollymount on Friday is a precursor of what’s to come, then we are set for an enthralling Senior football championship as Gusserane needed two late goals to see off an inspired comeback from Kilanerin and eventually seal an opening Group A win.

The New Ross District side lurched from an impressive first-half display which saw them develop a 3-6 to 0-8 lead at half-time, to remarkably falling behind for the only time after the increasingly influential Conor Devitt pointed Kilanerin 1-15 to 3-8 to the good with eight minutes left.

But Adrian Flynn restored parity from a free on 55 minutes, and when he located substitute Shane Cullen with a deft pass two minutes later, the experienced ex-Wexford star was dragged down by goalkeeper Tom Hughes for a penalty which Flynn calmly stroked home.

Bobby Hughes was clearly informed by referee Philip Murphy that there was still time for one last attack when he opted to point a free in injury-time to make it 4-9 to 1-16, but when Páraic Conway beat the advancing Tom Hughes to the ball in no-man’s land, Shane Flynn was on hand to lob to the empty net in the last act of a truly crazy game.

Last week, our reporter Dean Goodison mooted the potential of a two-man full-forward line of Flynn and Seán Ryan, and the deadly pair certainly thrived in that system in an electric opening quarter for the eventual victors.

Flynn showed out in front to point after only 19 seconds, and soon collected a line-ball before feeding Ryan to flash home their opening goal.

‘Panther’ then cantered in to fist over another point on two minutes, and Kilanerin swiftly swapped Aidan Jones with Páraic Hughes in an effort to stem the tide.

Devitt and Dean O’Toole helped bring their tally to 0-4 by the eleventh minute, but a quick inter-change at the other end saw Adrian Redmond play in Ryan, who side-stepped inside and drilled low to the net (2-4 to 0-4).

And Kilanerin were picked apart again on 18 minutes when Conway drifted off the left wing to the right

and fired across Tom Hughes to establish what looked like a comfortable interval lead.

Kilanerin’s comeback trail saw points from O’Toole, Michael Molloy and Bobby Hughes (free) before debutant Conor Hughes scored a well-taken goal on 41 minutes.

Rhys Owley floated the ball in to- wards Peter Hughes, who did well to gather under pressure before popping the ball to the goalscorer to finish as the gap was suddenly reduced to 3-7 to 1-11.

Gusserane also lost Seán Ryan during this spell to what looked like an ankle injury, although to be fair his direct replacement, Shane Cullen, had a huge bearing on the victory.

Still, an audacious score from Niall Hughes and O’Toole’s mid-range effort preceded a brace from Devitt as Kila

nerin eked out an unlikely lead, only for Gusserane to find that little bit extra when they needed it most.

Gusserane: Micheál Ryan; Liam Dillon, Gavin Sheehan, Jack Burford; Adrian Redmond, Mark O’Neill, Sam Wall; John Roche, Cillian Kehoe; Eoin Ryan, Graeme Cullen (capt.), Páraic Conway (1-0); Darragh Doyle (0-1), Adrian Flynn (1-7, 0-4 frees, 1-0 pen.), Seán Ryan (2-1). Subs. - Shane Cullen for S. Ryan, inj. (34), Donal Kiely for Doyle (42), Shane Flynn (1-0) for E. Ryan (59).

Kilanerin: Tom Hughes; Rhys Owley, Aidan Jones, Ben Morris; Mark Boland, Páraic Hughes, Ben O’Connor (capt.); Niall Breen, Niall Hughes (0-1); Conor Hughes (1-0), Conor Devitt (0-3), Dean O’Toole (0-3); Bobby Hughes (0-7, 6 frees), Peter Hughes (0-1), Michael Molloy (0-1).

Referee: Philip Murphy (Faythe Harriers).