Gannon is immense as Éire Óg claim title

ÉIRE ÓG retained their Carlow senior football Championship title when they outfought and outmanoeuvred Palatine in what was a disappointing game at Netwatch Cullen Park yesterday. Palatine, the champions of 2015 and 2016, were really only in the game in the opening quarter when they pulled the Éire Óg defence around but didn’t punish them on the scoreboard. All they had to show in the opening half were points from Shane O’Neill, Jamie Kenny, Tomás Kenny and a Conor Crowley free. Éire Óg probably sucked a lot of energy out of the challengers and settled for first half points from Murtough Ware, Eoghan Ruth, Sean Gannon and Simon Rea. A bomb into the Palatine square in the first half caused problems for the backline but in keeping with the game, defences ruled throughout this dour encounter. In the second half Éire Óg forced errors from Palatine who were unlucky to see a Niall Reid effort for a point deflect off the right hand upright and go wide. They took the game to Palatine in the third quarter and gradually pulled ahead with scores from Evan Kelly, Rea and Quinlan. The latter finished the day with three points where goal chances were scarce if not completely absent. Sean Gannon was immense in the second half for Éire Óg. Much of what was good went through him and he was a worthy Man of the Match award winner. Nothing went right for Palatine on the day. At the end, they were simply hanging on and completely struggled against a water-tight defence. The two sides played a similar kind of game and while it was difficult to watch there was no questioning the commitment of both sides who gave it and took it in equal measure.